Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
by evilo47
Summary: CHAPTER 15! WOOT! FINALLY! Yeah, if you've read the story in the past, enjoy. If you're new, then it's just another HBP wannabe. Read it or not. Your choice
1. Letter of Mystery

Disclaimer: I know, I forgot this before, but now it's here! As you've probably already guessed, I don't anything of the Harry Potter universe unless it was specifically added there by me. With that said, GO AWAY! No...no, you can come back to read my story, BUT THEN GO AWAY (that is, after you review it, of course...)  
  
"What are you doing, boy?"  
"Nothing, Uncle Vernon, I'm only sitting here innocently."  
"Nonsense! I know your lot. For all I know you could be planning something right now! You've been awfully quiet since the beginning of summer, boy, what's wrong with you? You haven't told your...friends that your Aunt Petunia and I have been treating you badly, have you, because let me tell you, you probably are treated better than most kids on this block."  
"No I haven't, Uncle Vernon, it's just that I'm bored because I can't see my friends...I do hope that they contact me soon because they did tell me that we would see each other really soon..." Harry sat with a daze in his eyes. He was thinking about seeing Ron and Hermione, his best friends in the world. No one had seen him through so much. They had helped him get through virtually everything: getting the stone, helping to foil Riddle, help during the Triwizard Tournament, proving Sirius Black's- oh, no! Sirius was on Harry's mind a lot lately. He could hardly stop thinking about his late godfather. He had been the closest thing Harry ever had to a parent, considering he could barely remember his own...  
It was such a lonely summer. Harry had been back for all of two weeks (a whole bloody fortnight!) with no word from any of his friends. He had, of course, been writing to the order regularly as they had told him to. He did not want them to come busting into number 4, Privet Drive because he had stupidly forgotten to write. He honestly didn't want to cause too much trouble. It had seemed that since he returned that his Aunt and Uncle had been even edgier than ever before. Harry suspected that this had something to do with Aunt Petunia's rather surprising insight to the magical world only last summer. Harry was sure that Uncle Vernon had not forgotten her insisting that Harry stay with them even when Harry had just revealed that a crazy dark lord had returned a couple of months ago and was most intent upon killing Harry. But that was last year. Now the whole wizarding world was aware of the fact that Voldemort had returned, and, in Harry's eyes, they weren't taking it so well.  
Harry had recently taken to receiving the Daily Prophet again. (It had been sent specifically to him by Albus Dumbledore. He had sent the first issue with a note that had been concealed within the paper; it read," Harry, I believe that it would be in your best interest if you were to read the Prophet. Since I cannot communicate with you directly (I have a strange feeling that Voldemort is attempting to find you and I do not want many owls by your residence on Privet Drive. If Voldemort happened to intercept an owl addressed to you he could find out where you live and...well...try to fulfill the prophecy.), you shall pick up information concerning Voldemort through the Daily Prophet. In the meantime, I have taken the liberty to tell your friends (Ron and Hermione) not to write to you unless it is absolutely necessary. Please do not get angry with me Harry; I know that you are going through a very difficult time. Best wishes and I do hope to see you soon, Professor Dumbledore."  
When Harry had first read the note he was, of course, fuming with rage. This was because he was being treated again like a little child who was doing something wrong and was supposed to stand out of the way until all of the adults handled the problem. Then, when it was safe for little Harry to come out, they would come pick him up. Harry was in a bad mood for days because of that. He had seriously considered leaving the house and wandering off on his own to find his friends. He was in the same predicament as last year: everyone was in on it but him. He did not like this feeling of loneliness, but then he remembered that this was all probably for the best and that he would be seeing his friends again soon. It would be nice to see the people from the order again (that was if he was going to Grimmauld Place as he assumed, but he also thought of the Burrow). He was especially keen to see Remus Lupin, who was the only person left of the four marauders whom Harry could speak to about Sirius, the only one who was rather close to Sirius.  
Harry got up and crossed the den to the stairs. Uncle Vernon grunted to show that he was pleased, but said nothing to Harry. Then Harry climbed up to his room. He figured that he had better get a start on his homework over the holidays or else he might forget about it. When he entered his room he looked immediately at Hedwig's cage. To his disappointment he found it empty. This left him feeling worried, but excited at the same time. He had written a letter to Ron and a letter to Hermione about five days ago. He had written usual things about what was going on and whatever, but she had still not returned. He was worried that maybe she was injured, but there was also the hope that she might come back with letters in return (maybe Ron and Hermione were throwing caution to the winds and writing anyway). But then that would worry him because they were only supposed to write to him if there was a necessity of it. In other words, Harry thought that maybe the reason Hedwig was taking so long was because there was something seriously wrong going on and Harry had no idea what it was. Now that Harry thought about it, he was a lot more worried than he was excited.  
  
Harry sank onto his bed and pulled up one of his books (one of his new freedoms since Moody's threat to Uncle Vernon was that Harry was no longer required to do his homework in hiding. He could do it out in the open in his room as long as he didn't announce to the whole neighborhood what it was that he was doing. That would be utterly humiliating for the Dursley's and would have Harry most certainly thrown out of the safe haven of Privet Drive. Harry most certainly did not want that to happen, for if it did then he would be picked off by Voldemort in an instant.)  
Harry began flipping through his book to find a use for dragon's breath in a potion that was meant for making a person shut their mouth. He had to find all of the technical stuff like how it reacted with the other ingredients and so forth. When he was in the middle of page 247 he heard a pretty loud thump which caused him to look up and lose his place. He looked at the window, but saw nothing. Then a great snowy blur flew past.  
"Hedwig?" wondered Harry.  
He got up and crossed the room to the window. He opened it up and Hedwig came bursting through and flew right into Harry's face.  
"Whoa there, Hedwig! Calm down a bit, will you? What's the matter?" Harry took Hedwig and placed her on his bed carefully. He spotted a rather large envelope tied to her ankle. He promptly untied it from her and opened it up. Out of it poured three letters.  
The first Harry recognized at once as Ron's because of its scrawny handwriting that was all bunched together. He picked up this one first and opened it up. The letter read, "Harry! I hope that this gets to you o.k. I had some real trouble sending it out because Mom was on me like you wouldn't believe! She kept reminding me of how Dumbledore said not to write to you, but I just couldn't let you get all angry like last year. Anyway, we're doing fine over here. Percy even came over to apologize to Mom and Dad about a week ago after realizing how much of a jerk he'd been. But everything's cool now. So, what have you been up to? There's been talk of everyone going to headquarters, but it doesn't sound likely. I'm hoping that Mom will let you come here soon or something because it's been really boring. In the big envelope there's also a letter from Hermione. So, I hope we see each other soon; your best mate, Ron."  
Harry threw the letter onto the bed and picked up the next one, grinning; it was from Hermione. He recognized the neat handwriting quickly. He unfurled it and it read, "Harry! How are you? Listen, I'm sure that you remember me saying at King's Cross that we would see each other soon, well, I wasn't lying. My parents said that it would be alright if you were to stay at my house! I wrote to Dumbledore and he agreed that it would be a good idea. You would be safe at my house because Voldemort wouldn't ever think to go there. That's why Ron's mom won't let you go to her house, the Burrow is too well known, and so are the Weasley's. It just wouldn't be safe. Sadly, Ron isn't allowed to come because Mrs. Weasley is not ready to have any of her family members leave her yet (after the incident's with the snake attack and just recently in the Department of Mysteries, which was not your fault, Harry, so don't go kicking yourself in the head for it.). Anyway, how are you doing with...well...Sirius? Are you doing all right since...you know? I just wanted you to know that I miss him a lot too and that I know that I must be feeling at least some of your pain. Please write back a.s.a.p. with your answer (whether or not you can come) and we will arrange a date sometime within the next week for my parents to pick you up. With love, Hermione."  
Harry then put down that letter. He was filled with so much happiness; he was going to see Hermione. He was sure that the Dursley's would be glad to be rid of him so quickly. It was just too bad that he wouldn't see Ron, but he would see him in September. Then Harry remembered that there was still one last letter to be read. He looked at it, but had no idea of who it was from. So, he opened it and read it, "Harry Potter, you may not know who I am, but I most definitely know you. I have been watching you for many years now and am getting ready to strike. I know who you think I am, but I can assure you that you are completely wrong. I am just writing to tell you that I will have you killed. Why, you may ask, do I tell you this? I will tell you! I tell all of my victims that they are about to be killed before I kill them. Harry, you have anywhere from four to nine months to live. You can tell that fool Dumbledore that you will not be safe in his care or in that of the Dursley's. Not even those weak walls of Hogwarts can stop me. I hope that you take this seriously, I like victims with fear in them."  
Harry stared at the note in his hands in horror. He reread it to make sure that he was hallucinating; he wasn't. Someone was out to kill him and by the sounds of it, there was nothing that Harry was going to be able to do to stop this anonymous murderer.  
Harry began blankly stroking Hedwig. He noticed that her feathers were ruffled and figured that this unknown killer was the one to blame. It looked as though Dumbledore was right, except it wasn't Voldemort who was watching Harry's owls, it was someone else. With that, Harry went into a restless sleep for he realized that he was suddenly very tired. 


	2. Truths Unfold

Harry awoke with a horrible pain in his scar and tears streaming down his face. He had not had pain this bad since he returned to Privet Drive. Harry's scar had almost always been tingling since he had returned, but he suspected that that was only because Voldemort was back and as strong as ever.  
  
It was only five in the morning when he had been awoken by this pain. His mind almost immediately settled on the murderous letter that he had received last night. Harry was wondering what to do. Should he write a letter? And if he did, who would he write to? Hedwig was now probably being watched. He couldn't be safe anymore. There was no way to write to anyone without the killer knowing. But so what if the killer did know that he was writing to people about him? That was probably what the killer expected. If that's what the killer expects, is it also what he wants? What can he do if he sees the letter?  
"I can't take this, I'm writing the ruddy letter, and I'm writing it to Hermione. She'll know what to do," muttered Harry under his breath. He didn't want to wake the Dursleys.  
  
Harry realized that he had forgotten about his glasses, so he put them on. Once he could see, he went his desk and brought out a fresh piece of parchment and a bottle of ink and a quill. He sat for a moment wondering how to put in a letter that someone had just threatened to kill him, and then wrote, "Hi Hermione! I got your letter and can most definitely come to your house. I am so excited to be getting away from this place so soon! I hope that I am not barging in on your family time. Please write back with an exact date and I will tell the Dursleys when to expect your parents. Oh yeah, I thought that I should tell you that in the big envelope that you and Ron's letters came in there was a third letter. I don't know who it was, but they threatened to kill me. I know that you must be thinking Voldemort, but this person told me that he's not who I would think, so now I have no idea who this guy is. I'm sure that you would've wanted to hear that, so please take me seriously. I would not joke about something this serious. See you soon, Harry!"  
  
Harry reread his letter and decided that he put way too little emphasis on the fact that he was scared as anything that someone just threatened to take his life. He sounded like he didn't really care. But he didn't want to sound like he was chicken, or at least not in front of Hermione...  
"What am I thinking? I don't like Hermione that way. Or do I? No, no, of course I don't. I just don't want to look like a coward. Not in front of Hermione or anyone for that matter!" thought Harry to himself.  
"But you do find her pretty, don't you?" said a voice from the back of his head.  
  
Harry shook off these absurd thoughts and tried to turn his mind to other things. He decided that he would send his letter right then so that he would not forget or talk himself out of it. He walked over to Hedwig and attached the letter firmly to her leg.  
"Now, I don't want you to let anyone but Hermione touch you. You have to make sure and do that, o.k.? Whoever may have caught you yesterday will not catch you again."  
  
Without further ado, Hedwig gracefully swept from Harry's arm and flew with insane speed out of his window. Harry watched for a moment in wonderment at the speed of Hedwig. If she got back unhampered with Harry would make sure and thank Hagrid again for this marvelous creature.  
  
The day went by in a haze. There wasn't much for Harry to do but wait for Hermione's reply (which he wanted fast), so he started again on his homework.  
  
Harry was making pretty good headway through his homework. By three in the afternoon he was extremely hungry. He journeyed downstairs to find nourishment. He was in the middle of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for himself when Aunt Petunia walked into the kitchen. She took a glance at him and said,  
"Harry, I've been meaning to talk with you for some time now."  
  
Harry was very shocked by this statement. Aunt Petunia never talked to him more than necessary. This was why Harry was wondering what cock-and-bull story Dudley had told her to get him in trouble when she continued,  
"Do you remember at the beginning of last summer when you said Dudley was attacked by dementors?"  
"Yes, I remember quite clearly," said a very confused Harry.  
"Well, did you mean when you said...erm...You-know-who's back?"  
"I most certainly did, and now everyone in the wizarding community knows it and there's a full blown panic going on," said Harry. He could not believe that he was just so brave. He had said the word "wizarding" right in front of his Aunt. She, however, looked very frightened rather than angry at the information given to her.  
"Harry dear, I was worried all of this past year that what you said was true. I said no more of it because I could not bring myself to relive my past. You see, when I was still in school and your mother was going to that Hogwats, was it?"  
"Hogwarts," said Harry, correcting her. He wanted her to continue talking.  
"Yes, thank you. Anyway, when I was schooling your mother was always telling me about this...erm...Voldemort. I thought that she was just trying to scare me with her stories of the Dark Lord. I guess not. Now that I know that he's back, I'm stuck on the hook. I can't let you leave this house, boy, it would kill you. I couldn't live with that on my shoulders. But I am also worrying about Vernon, Dudley, and me. Are we in trouble? Is he out there trying to kill us?"  
  
Harry went blank for a couple of moments. He never knew that Aunt Petunia really did know about these things, but why had she hid them all of these years? He looked at her for a minute and said,  
"Honestly, it is entirely possible for Voldemort to be targeting you. I hope that this doesn't cause you to throw me out. You see, staying here keeps me alive, and you know that, don't you?"  
"Yes I do know that. But as I said, I couldn't bear to throw you out of this house."  
"Well, I do have good news; I'll be staying with my friend Hermione for a good part of the summer...that is, if it's o.k. with you."  
  
Harry looked into his Aunt's eyes and saw that she was seriously thinking this through. She said,  
"Harry, if you leave now, are you vulnerable to him?"  
"No, Professor Dumbledore said that I only have to stay here a couple of weeks to be protected from your blood."  
"Well, you can go then. I know that you will enjoy yourself there much more than you will here, considering how Vernon and Dudley treat you," said Aunt Petunia.  
"Thank you, Aunt Petunia!" said Harry; and he truly meant it.  
  
Later that day, after he had eaten and thought over his one true conversation with his Aunt, Harry was back in his room and just finishing a Transfiguration essay when Hedwig arrived with Hermione's reply.  
"Wow! That was fast!"  
  
Hedwig hooted in flattery and held out her leg for Harry. It was definitely from Hermione and it read, "Harry, that's horrible (about the mysterious letter)! You should write to Dumbledore," (like Harry hadn't seen that coming)," but also, it's great that you can come over. My parents are free tomorrow, so they will pick you up at precisely four 'o clock. Be ready and packed! With worry and love, Hermione."  
  
Harry probably could've written Hermione's reply for her (except for when he was being picked up, of course); it was just so predictable. He was even considering consulting Dumbledore himself, too. But it was just that something didn't feel right yet. Harry decided to not let it bother him so much. He was going to have fun over the summer and wait to see if this mysterious person even wrote again. Maybe it was all an elaborate joke being played on him by Malfoy (which was more than likely).  
  
That night, after a relaxing swim at the community pool, Harry was lying in bed and dozing off to sleep when all of a sudden,  
"_Procrastinator_!" rang the same voice in the back of his head. 


	3. New Discoveries

That night Harry had a dream. It was a dream reminiscent of those he had been experiencing in his fifth year. At once Harry recognized that he was not in his own body. He was using someone else's body for the time being.  
  
Harry looked down and saw to his horror that he was once again trapped inside Voldemort's body. He knew this because of the frail, white hands that he was staring down at. At the moment Voldemort was looking down at one of his unfortunate death eaters. Harry was dreading the time when he knew he would have to hear the icy cold and high pitched voice that was Voldemort's issue from his own mouth. Just as he thought it, Harry felt his mouth opening for him. What came next was not his own voice,  
"So Malfoy, I see that you have failed me. I thought there would have been no need for my own personal assistance at the Department of Mysteries. Apparently I was wrong. For this careless mistake, Malfoy, you shall pay dearly. CRUCIO!"  
"AHHHHHHHH! Master, please, the pain is excruciating!"  
"That's the point, you fool!" cried Harry from Voldemort's mouth. Voldemort/Harry lowered his wand and looked down upon his squirming victim,  
"Malfoy! Rise! Now, we shall need to plan our next hit more carefully. Because of you, I am walking blindly without the help of using the information that the prophecy contained! Now I cannot kill the boy without wondering if I will lose power again! I need you to find this out, Malfoy. I bestow this mission to you and Bellatrix personally. Go!"  
"Yes sir!"  
  
Malfoy practically ran from the room. Voldemort remained where he stood. Harry was caught up in all of Voldemort's feelings. He was extremely angry for the most part, but there was also a tinge of anxiety. A tinge of nervousness that was nagging in the back of his head.  
"That's odd," thought Harry," What could Voldemort possibly be worrying about? The Order? Or maybe it's something else entirely..."  
  
Then Harry was sucked out of Voldemort's head as quickly as he had entered. He found himself sweating in his bed. He was completely soaked and his scar was hurting as bad as when Voldemort had possessed him for a short time a couple of weeks ago. Harry could barely stifle his cry of pain. Harry had stuffed his pillow into his mouth to keep it from being too loud. The last thing he needed was to get the Dursleys angry the day before he was leaving. If they had been disturbed, they might not have let him go just to punish him and torture his wretched soul a little bit longer.  
"So," thought Harry," Voldemort wants to know the prophecy. The only person who knows it in full is Dumbledore because it's faded somewhat from my mind. I just hope he doesn't get to it..."  
  
Harry checked the alarm clock. It was seven in the morning. Hmm, Voldemort had been kind enough to let him sleep a good while. Harry decided that Voldemort had most likely not been thinking of Harry's sleep deprivation while torturing Malfoy and got up to go downstairs.  
  
When he got down he heard the sounds of bacon already sizzling. When he walked into the kitchen he saw Uncle Vernon sitting at the table with a newspaper in his hands. Aunt Petunia was at the stove monitoring the eggs and bacon like a hawk, but when she spotted him, Harry could've sworn that she had given him a tiny wink from behind Uncle Vernon. Dudley was oblivious to everything and was deep in a comic book. Harry was surprised to see that Dudley was even smart enough to read something as simple as a comic book; judging by his lack of effort to read any sort of reading material other than seeing how many grams of sugar resided in the piece of junk food he might have been in the middle of eating.  
  
Harry sat down and gratefully took some eggs from Aunt Petunia and ate ravenously. His midnight wanderings had left him very hungry. Harry spent the rest of the day whiling away the time until Hermione's arrival packing and then pounding his favorite walking routes.  
  
At around two Harry could be found sitting on his favorite swing in the park off of Mongolia Crescent. He sat swinging idly without a thought in his mind. He was very tired from his long hours of walking. Packing had only taken about an hour. Then he went off to walking all around Little Whinging. Harry decided that he should walk home to await Hermione. He was very anxious to see her. Not only was she a very good friend.  
"Sure...just good friends," said the malicious voice in the back of his head.  
"Stop it!" said Harry to himself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself."  
  
Harry decided to wait for Hermione to arrive down in the den. Uncle Vernon immediately detested of this,  
"What are you up to, boy?"  
"Nothing, as always, Uncle," said Harry.  
  
Then, at exactly four in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Harry leapt to the door at once, straightened his shirt, and ran his hand hurriedly and unconsciously through his hair before opening the door.  
"Harry!"  
  
Hermione crashed into Harry and nearly knocked him off of his feet. She then grabbed him in an almost bone-crushing hug.  
"It's good to see you, too, Hermione, but I don't think I can breath," gasped Harry.  
"Oh, sorry Harry. It's just that I'm so glad to see you again! And so soon!"  
"Come on in," said Harry spotting Mr. and Mrs. Granger behind Hermione," I'll show you guys inside."  
  
Harry led them all inside and introduced them to a rather disgruntled Uncle Vernon, a forcedly happy Aunt Petunia, and a staring Dudley. An awkward silence fell almost immediately after the greetings were given. Finally,  
"Well, I guess we'll be off then. Got your things Harry?" called Mr. Granger.  
"Yes. Yes, let's be off. Well, I guess I'll see you all next summer!" said Harry.  
"Urgg," grunted Uncle Vernon.  
"Bye, Harry," said Aunt Petunia.  
"See ya', Dudders!" said Harry with glee. He wouldn't be seeing him for another year.  
  
After Dudley growled in response to Harry's farewell, Harry insisted that they all leave quickly. They walked out to the Granger's car and carefully laid Harry's trunk inside the trunk. Then Harry and Hermione got in the back seat with Hedwig between them. As Hermione climbed in she cast a quick, dazzling smile at Harry. Harry's stomach did a back flip, but didn't know why.  
"I know why," said that stupid voice," You like her as more than a friend and you know it."  
  
Harry just stared at Hermione. When he realized that he was staring he quickly looked away and at his shoelaces. (He had gotten this idea from Ron after seeing him do it on occasion) They began driving. Harry quickly buckled in and cast around for something to spark conversation when,  
"So Harry, how have you been doing lately?' asked Mr. Granger innocently.  
"Oh, I'm fine. How are things going with you? How was the ski trip?"  
"Marvelous, Harry, just Marvelous!" cried Mr. Granger.  
"How's the dentist business going?" asked Harry.  
"It couldn't be better! So, anything new going on?" said Mr. Granger.  
"Not really, no. I can't say that anything that interesting has happened over the past two weeks, but I sure am happy that you guys are having me for the summer! Thank you so much!"  
"Oh, it's really no problem, dear. We love to have visitors," said Mrs. Granger.  
  
This type of normal, boring parent talk flowed through the car on the way to the Granger's home. Hermione shot Harry a few looks on the ride there, but didn't dare speak of anything pertaining to Sirius, Voldemort, or the letter in front of her parents. Harry noticed how much prettier she seemed to look since he'd last seen her only a couple of weeks ago. He had rarely seen Hermione dressed in the Muggle fashion because they were always wearing school robes at Hogwarts. But right now she had on a white tank top and a pair of denim short shorts. Harry found that he found Hermione very attractive during the drive to the Granger's. He could hardly help to look at her less than twice a minute. Every time he saw something different to comment about to himself. He thought things like, "Hey! Is she wearing lipstick?" or," Is that a tan?" or," Wow! Her hair is o wavy!"  
  
By the time they got to Hermione's home Harry was absolutely lost in Hermione's beauty. She had seemed to notice because she gave him little, tempting grins from time to time. She immediately offered to help Harry by carrying Hedwig while Harry got his trunk. Harry looked up to see himself facing a quaint little house that was just big enough for three people to live in if they were slightly squeezed. Harry wondered where he would be sleeping, but that was soon answered for him.  
  
Harry and Hermione were in Hermione's room. Hermione was helping Harry unpack when she told him,  
"Look, Harry, here's the deal. You're going to have sleep in my room one way or other, so you've got a choice. You can either sleep on my floor, which is rather hard, or you could share the bed with me. My parent's are fine with us sharing a bed because they know that we are both very mature teenagers who will-how do I put this?-'act responsibly'."  
Harry was dumbstruck for a moment, but then found his voice and said," I think I'll take the bed. I'm not too keen on sleeping down on that hard floor, no offense to you."  
Hermione giggled, but said," So let me get this straight, this guy just writes a letter to you saying that you're going to die and practically assures you that he's not Voldemort?"  
"Yeah, you pretty much got the whole picture, and he said that I have anywhere from four to nine months to live. If you ask me, it sounds like a cruel joke of Malfoy's."  
"It sure does, doesn't it?" said Hermione, "But what if it isn't?"  
"Well, if he writes again, I think that I'll get a little worried, but for right now, I could really care less. I mean, I'm not going to let him get me down when I'm spending time with my friend, am I?"  
Hermione giggled again, "Well I sure wouldn't! Come on Harry, let's go eat dinner. I'm starving,"  
"Me too."  
  
Harry and Hermione went to a nearby diner to eat because her parents were in no mood for cooking. They had had a long day that had consisted of three root canals before even going to pick up Harry. In short, they just went to sleep.  
  
After a good meal, Harry and Hermione returned to her house and got ready for bed. Hermione undressed in her room while Harry undressed in the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he went back into the room with the permission of Hermione (who had finished undressing) he couldn't believe what he saw. She was absolutely stunning in a night shirt and boy shorts and seemed to see the effect she was having on him. She quite simply said,  
"Well, are you getting in bed or not?" and then she giggled.  
  
Harry climbed into the bed next to her (which was another tight squeeze). They were turned on their sides towards each other so that they could talk to each other some more before falling asleep. Harry was saying stupid things, but all the while kept track of how his and Hermione's lips were getting. At one point they were barely an inch apart as Hermione told him a funny story from her childhood when she had tried to ride her bicycle through a clear, glass door.  
  
At long last they fell asleep. It was a peaceful night with few dreams. Harry did not remember doing so, but when they woke up the next morning, Harry's arm was draped over Hermione and wrapped tightly around her waist.  
"Told you so," said the voice in Harry's head while he was still unconscious. 


	4. Realization

Author's note: Well, I do remember warning you all that this would most likely be H/H. I will also say that they are bound to get to Hogwarts within the next few chapters (but it's not definite). The mysterious Half Blood Prince will be made more prominent an issue soon enough. Right now I'm having too much fun messing with Harry's feelings (poor Harry ().  
  
Hermione woke up at least ten whole minutes before Harry. The first thing that she noticed was Harry's arm around her. She was moving to remove it from her waist, but in mid-reach decided that she liked the feel of his arm around her...she liked it a lot.  
  
At eight in the morning Harry and Hermione were both in the kitchen trying to prepare some sort of breakfast. Hermione's parents were long gone to the dentist's office for another hectic day filled with people hopelessly trying to talk and wind up saying something like, "Dat's budder!" The two teenagers wound up eating some nice bowls of cold cereal and a cup of tea each. Afterwards they went up to shower in turns. When both were dressed and ready to go to the movies (as they had planned the night before) they casually walked to the door. Once they opened the door a great barn owl came bursting through the door (reminiscent of Hermione only the day before). On the owl's leg were two letters with the prominent Hogwarts seal upon them. One was addressed to Hermione, and the other to Harry. Each of them grabbed the appropriate letters and read, "Dear Mr. Potter (obviously Miss Granger for Hermione),  
I am sure that you remember quite clearly taking the O.W.L.s in June. We are happy to announce that your grades have come in. The following is a list of your grades and the corresponding subject next to it:  
  
A.........................History of Magic  
A..................................Divination  
E..................................Herbology  
O..........Defense Against the Dark Arts  
E.....................................Charms  
O................Care of Magical Creatures  
O............................Transfiguration  
E......................................Potions  
  
Sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall  
(Head of Gryffindor House)"  
  
Harry certainly was shocked by how well he had done. He knew that he wasn't going to do too good on Divination because he didn't like it and History of Magic because he didn't really care that much about it. He looked up at Hermione and saw that she was ecstatic. She had most likely gotten "outstanding" on every single exam (which would come as no surprise to anyone).  
"Well?" asked Harry.  
"I aced everything! You?"  
"I did pretty well. I passed potions with an "E"; I don't believe it!"  
"I'll bet you anything Dumbledore finally put a stop to Snape failing you on purpose; otherwise you probably wouldn't have done so well," remarked Hermione.  
  
Harry had to agree with this. Snape would have never given Harry anything above an "A", not even if the potion was perfect. Either Dumbledore had interfered or...  
"I know why, Hermione! Snape didn't grade the exams, remember? It was the testers who graded our papers."  
"Oh yeah. They were bound to grade fairly. Well, that's a relief. Let's get going, we'll look at the book lists later. We've got a couple of months!" said Hermione.  
"Wait, there's still something else in my envelope...besides the book list, I mean," said Harry, a little confused.  
"Well, what is it?"  
  
Harry pulled it out in wonderment. He unfolded it and read the following: "Dear Harry,  
Since I have become Headmaster at Hogwarts once again, I have been undoing many changes that were put into effect by Dolores Umbridge (who shall no longer be teaching at this institution). One of these changes brought to my attention was your lifetime ban from the sport Quidditch. After reviewing Umbridge's report of events and taking eyewitness reports from my fellow staff, I have come to the conclusion that there are charges to be pressed, yes. But these charges are by no means severe enough to ban you from the field. I hereby declare your ban invalid and grant you the position of seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team once again, now that Ginny Weasley has resigned and wishes to try out for a chaser. You are also the most credible pick for team Captaincy, so I give that to you also. Enjoy your holidays and stay clear of trouble!  
Albus Dumbledore  
(Current Headmaster of Hogwarts)"  
"Yes!" said Harry and Hermione together. Hermione had been reading over Harry's shoulder on tip-toes.  
"That's great, Harry! I knew Dumbledore would put you back on the team. Ready to go, then?"  
"Yeah, let's get out of here," said Harry, feeling very happy.  
  
The two of them walked from the house together and began their way down the street. The theater wasn't all that far away. Surprisingly, they were going to go see a movie that starred a 13-year-old wizard boy who was being followed by a supposed murderer. The story seemed quite familiar to Harry and Hermione and the film had premiered only a couple of weeks ago in the middle of June.  
  
In the middle of their walk Hermione randomly grabbed Harry's hand in hers. Harry was rather surprised by this and looked at her questioningly. Neither of them had mentioned how they had woken up intertwined yet.  
"Harry, did you intentionally wrap your arm around me last night?" asked Hermione innocently.  
  
Harry thought for a minute. What if she wants me to say yes? If I say no, will she be disappointed? A little cautious, Harry responded,  
"Well, I don't remember doing it. I'm really sorry if you feel violated or anything. I'll sleep on the floor from now on if you want me to," said Harry nervously. He secretly didn't want her to say that she wanted him to sleep on the floor. Harry had given in to the voice in his head; he was completely in love with Hermione. But Harry had no idea how this had happened. He had thought that they were just friends and nothing more. Harry started thinking about what others would think about them together; people like Ron.  
  
Harry always felt like Ron had a thing for Hermione, but he wasn't sure if she felt the same way.  
"Apparently not," said the voice. "She's holding your hand right now!"  
  
Harry then realized how good the tender, soft skin of Hermione's hand against his felt like absolute heaven. He was so lost in his nerves and so conscious about his sweaty hand that he almost didn't hear Hermione say,  
"Actually Harry, I liked it a lot when you were holding me. It's something that I've always secretly wanted from you," said Hermione in a tone that suggested that she couldn't believe that what was happening was happening.  
"Well, I liked it too, Hermione, and I've just realized that I really like you too."  
  
With that, Harry laced his fingers through hers with no question and they walked happily to the theater.  
  
The rest of the summer went by in daze that was very warm and romantic. Harry and Hermione could seem to believe their luck. They were in love and had virtually the whole summer together alone. They passed the days having picnics in the park, swimming at a nearby lake, and sitting together in the theater looking at movies, but not really watching them (they were looking at each other more than the screen). They also finished up their homework together, or rather Hermione helped Harry finish his because she, as Harry had predicted, had finished hers within the first week of the vacation.  
  
Finally it was coming down to the last week of the holidays and Mr. and Mrs. Granger were planning a day when they could drop Harry Hermione off at Diagon Alley for the day so that they could get their supplies and maybe see Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. Harry and Hermione had been in contact with Ron and he was rather disappointed that they weren't coming, but did promise that they would see him at Diagon Alley.  
  
It was the night before they were heading out to Diagon Alley and Harry and Hermione were in her room. They had just finished dinner and were lying on the bed just staring at the ceiling. They were going to have to pack in a couple of days, but they weren't too worried about that. The mysterious writer hadn't written since his first letter, so they were thoroughly convinced that it was all just a hoax. If only Harry listened to that voice in his head, he might have known better...might have been more aware. But he wasn't listening to the voice warning him to write to Dumbledore at the moment. He was instead staring dreamily into Hermione's eyes.  
"Well, it's been quite a good summer if you ask me," said Harry. He draped his arm over Hermione as he had done the first night he had arrived and many nights in-between. Hermione shuddered a little and pulled Harry closer.  
"Yes, it has been a very good summer," she had put emphasis on the word very.  
  
The two of them lied there a little longer looking at each other before Harry started contemplating something in his mind. Should I kiss her? Would she want me to kiss her? What if she gets angry?  
  
Harry couldn't deal with the pressure so he just trusted his instinct. He looked back at Hermione. She seemed to know what he was about to do so she closed her eyes and waited. Harry instinctively closed his eyes and then slowly brought his lips to hers. She tasted wonderful, like mint because she had just brushed her teeth. Her lips were smooth and warm against his. He held the kiss a little bit longer before breaking the connection. Hermione opened her eyes and stared at him with pleasure in her eyes. She hugged him tight and said,  
"Thank you, Harry. That was absolutely wonderful."  
  
Then they just fell asleep in each others arms.  
"Way to go, Harry!" said the voice in his head. 


	5. Paranoia Sets In

"Oy! Harry! Hermione! Over here!"  
  
Harry and Hermione were walking down Diagon Alley when they heard Fred yell this to them. They immediately turned around to see him running toward them.  
"How are you guys?" beamed Fred.  
"We're fine. How are you and George doing with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" asked Hermione.  
  
Harry was lost in this conversation for a second until he remembered that the twins had set up premises in Diagon Alley. Harry then remembered the swamp and the fireworks and such that they had pulled off last year at Hogwarts before zooming off like madmen on their broomsticks. Everyone, even Hermione who was always so good-natured when it came to school issues, had to admit that it was one of the best things that had happened all year. Apparently, that was how the twins had planned it.  
"So," said Harry," What have you guys been up to?"  
"Not much. But I can tell you that business is still booming," he indicates the dragon skin jacket that he was still wearing; the same one that he was wearing when he greeted them at King's Cross station. Harry wondered how much they cost, not that he was interested in buying one. Fred then turned around to show an improvement that had been made since he'd last seen the jackets. On the back was a logo that sported the store name and a funny illustration showing a person running away from one of the dragon sparkler Whizbangs on an endless loop. The guy didn't look too happy about his unsolvable predicament.  
"So, why don't you two come on in and have a look at our shop. We're expecting Ron, Ginny, and Mum to stop by later to check things out and then go do their school shopping." Fred said all of this with a wide grin on his face and then disappeared with a crack.  
  
Harry and Hermione were rather ruffled by this random departure, but continued up the street in the direction from which they saw Fred come until they were standing right in front of what looked like a very awesome store. The windows were covered in light displays that showed all different gags at work. One showed a man puking his guts out like there was no tomorrow and then he lifted his hand to his mouth and stopped almost immediately. Harry had a strong feeling that this was a demonstration of the twins' Skivving Snackboxes.  
  
The two of them walked in together filled with excitement and slight anxiety about what they were to find inside the walls of this small store. Once inside Fred greeted them once again,  
"Sorry about that, you two. I just love seeing the looks on peoples' faces when they first walk through the doors.  
  
Fred was indeed right about the looks on their faces. Both of their mouths were hanging open and they just couldn't stop themselves from staring. All around them was colors, blinking lights, and gizmos that you knew could only be imagined by the sick and demented minds that were those of Fred and George Weasley. Some things were very sharp and sinister looking, while there were also cute teddy bears that started to scream bloody murder whenever a customer got within six inches of them.  
  
George came up from the cellar behind the counter and when he saw the two of them he began grinning just as widely as his brother had only a couple of moments ago.  
"Hey you two, what's going on? Came to check out our success?"  
"Well, we were here to get school supplies, but Fred just sort of found us. It's cool though. I really like this place," said Harry. He couldn't stop looking around at everything. There were things whirring and things that were spinning so fast, and still others that would sputter uncontrollably from time to time. Then there was also the assortment of all kinds of sweets that had different effects on your body. They were all labeled with names like, "Levitator," or," Snake Eyes," or possibly, "Ton- Tongue Toffee".  
"Yeah," said George," We're doing pretty well for ourselves these days...We're hoping to eventually put up some sort of competition for Zonko's. They are the absolute masters of the joke shop industry as of now, but me and Fred are working to change that."  
"Well, you're doing a pretty good job already," said Harry.  
"Oh!" cried Fred, "That reminds me..." He goes in the back room for a minute and comes back out with a box full of what looked suspiciously like Skivving Snackboxes. Fred forced them into Harry's arms and said, "Here, Harry, we really owe you so we're giving you this free box with our compliments. Without you, we'd be nowhere."  
  
Harry smiled at the two of them and gratefully took the sweets. He wasn't sure if he wanted to use them or not yet, but he would keep them all the same. The four of them chatted for a while longer, occasionally Fred or George would have to leave to help someone behind the counter or explain what a particular thing did. Then Harry and Hermione left the shop and began searching others for their supplies.  
  
They got all of their books, quills, parchment, ink, and whatever else might be needed for their year at school. They were sitting and enjoying two ice cream sundaes when they finally heard the familiar voice of Ron. They turned around happily to see him running up the street toward them.  
"So, I've found you two! How are you?" inquired Ron.  
"Oh, we're fine. We just finished our shopping and are getting some ice cream. Come! Join us!" said Harry.  
  
Ron obliged to Harry's order and sat down at the table with them. After a questioning look from Hermione, Ron said,  
"What? Do I have a bogey hanging or something?"  
"No," said Hermione, trying to suppress a giggle," I was just wondering where the rest of your family is."  
"Oh! They're fine. They're off getting supplies and stuff. I told my Mum that I was going to look for you two. She knows that we're around here somewhere."  
"That's good," said Harry. "So, have you seen Fred and George's shop yet?"  
"Yes. We just visited them. They told us that you guys were around so I just left looking for you about five minutes ago."  
  
After that the three of them started talking about what they'd done over the summer. Neither Harry nor Hermione mentioned the fact that they were going out. They weren't sure how Ron would take it. They silently decided that they would tell him another time. What they did tell Ron was about the letter that Harry had received from a mysterious killer. When they saw the look of shock on Ron's face they quickly assured him that it was nothing to worry himself about.  
"But what if the killer was only planning to write once? Didn't he even give Harry a time-frame of how long he had to live?"  
"Yes," said Harry," But the fact remains that he has a gap of five months to kill me. Not very exact, is he?"  
"No," said Ron," But what if it is real? What if there really is a killer out to get you?"  
"Ron, look, who out there could be more dangerous than Voldemort? Honestly I'm not that fearful. And would you stop flinching at the sound of his bloody name?!?"  
"S-sorry Harry. It's just that I don't like it. I also don't like the fact that there are now two known people who want you dead, besides You- Know...V-v-voldemort's death eaters." Ron then sighed deeply. It was the first time that Harry had heard Ron say Voldemort's name aloud.  
"Thank you," said Harry. "Now, let's get off of this subject, shall we?"  
"Yes," said Hermione," But, do you still have the letter?"  
"I'm pretty sure I do. Why? Would you like to see it?" asked Harry, slightly confused, but knew that deep down Hermione must have reason for what she wanted.  
"If you would be so kind, yes, I would like to see it," said Hermione.  
  
Harry told her that she could see it first thing when they got back to her house; he had left it in the trunk. At that statement Ron went a little pink. Hermione quickly said when she noticed,  
"Don't worry Ron. We're all going to see each other again in less than a week."  
  
At that Ron quickly recovered and ordered some ice cream for himself. They sat there and ate their sundaes contentedly and then got up to wander through Diagon Alley. They went window shopping for a couple of hours until it was time to part for one last week until school started.  
  
When Harry and Hermione arrived back at her house Hermione wasted no time in getting Harry to her room for that letter. Harry kept inquiring what she meant to do, but she wouldn't say; not even when Harry poked her in her sides where he had found that she was ticklish. She only pushed away his hands and said,  
"The faster we get there, the faster you'll know."  
  
Once in her room Harry dug up the now crumpled letter from his trunk and handed it over to Hermione. She read through it quickly and then gasped.  
"What?" asked Harry, slightly panicked.  
"Harry, I think that I recognize this handwriting. Give me the letter that got you back on the Quidditch team."  
  
Harry wasted no time. He had not thrown out that letter either in case he needed proof that he was allowed to play. He handed it to Hermione and a moment after she unfolded the paper she nearly fainted. Harry caught her in his arms and asked,  
"What is it Hermione?"  
  
But he didn't need to ask: the handwriting on the letter from the killer and that of Dumbledore's was exactly the same. Harry nearly fainted, too. His Headmaster was out to get him. 


	6. Second Guesses

"Harry, what does this mean?" asked Hermione.  
"It means that I am not going back to Hogwarts if Dumbledore's there," said Harry in a slightly disbelieving tone.  
  
How could this happen? Why would Dumbledore be out to kill me? This can't be real. I'm going to have Hermione hit me and I'm going to wake up in my room at Privet Drive and it's going to be the beginning of the summer holidays.  
"Hermione," said Harry," Hit me. Hit me hard."  
  
Hermione just stared in wonderment for a moment and then said,  
"No, Harry. Maybe we're not looking at this the right way. Maybe we're missing something. I can guarantee that this isn't a dream, too."  
"How?" asked Harry.  
"With this."  
  
Hermione then kissed Harry before he could stop her.  
"OK," said Harry, "So I'm not dreaming. But why would that be of any comfort to me?" He had said the last bit with a little bit more ice than he had wanted to. Hermione didn't seem to notice this and continued to say,  
"Because maybe we're wrong. Look at the letters. Yes, the handwriting is close now that I look at it, but it isn't exact."  
  
Harry looked at them again and saw that Hermione had a pretty fair point. One of them (the killer's) was much more jagged than the other one. Dumbledore's handwriting was smoother and loopier. Harry also had to admit that at first glance they did look exactly the same. They were a little bit different, but he was still a little bit uneasy...  
  
Then something clicked in Harry's mind-the prophecy! According to that no one except for Voldemort personally could end his life. Harry hoped that the prophecy was true. It must because at least three-quarters of it had become real already; the marking of his equal, the parents escaping, and the birth at the exact time stated. Harry realized that the only way to subdue Hermione's worrying about him he had to tell her about the prophecy.  
"Hermione, there's something I need to tell you...something I haven't told anyone else."  
  
Harry then continued, without interruption, to explain what had happened the night in the Department of Mysteries after Hermione had passed out and didn't stop until he had told her in full what had happened all the way up to when he had left Dumbledore's office that night. Hermione gasped after hearing what had been foretold in the prophecy about the fact that Voldemort or Harry would either kill, or be killed by, the other.  
"Harry, why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Hermione with a look of true terror in her eyes.  
"I don't know...it's just that I didn't feel like sharing it with anyone. I would have told Sirius, but it seems that the only reason that I know about it is because he died. I sometimes feel like I killed Sirius. No! Don't interrupt yet. I have good reason to believe this," Harry then took a long breath and continued, "Back in our third year when we were in the Shrieking Shack with Pettigrew between our fingers, I could have had him killed. But I didn't. Instead I resorted to my useless "saving-people- thing" and let him slip through our grasp and help Voldemort back to power. If I had stopped that from happening then Voldemort couldn't have pretended to have Sirius hostage and I wouldn't have gone stupidly to save him when he wasn't there." Harry stopped talking and looked down at his feet. He didn't know what else to say.  
Hermione just stared for a moment before saying, "Harry...I didn't know that you felt that way. You know that it wasn't your fault; you were only doing the right thing; the thing that your parents would have wanted you to do."  
  
Harry just broke down right there. For a moment he considered going as far as telling Hermione about what he had seen in the pensieve concerning Snape in his childhood. Hermione didn't even know about the pensieve. Harry thought better about contradicting her statement by saying how cruel his father had been just out of sheer boredom. How he would probably have killed Pettigrew on the spot and thought it all a laughing matter in a couple of months. Instead Harry simply replied,  
"You're probably right."  
"Look Harry," said Hermione in a calming voice," About Dumbledore. If that prophecy is true, then it sounds as though you shouldn't worry too much. We should still be cautious around him, though. If he has intentions to kill you then the prophecy may have all been a hoax. But that doesn't seem likely because even Voldemort knew about the prophecy. When we get to Hogwarts step with care. If this killer even is Dumbledore then we still have time before he acts, according to the letter."  
"But what happens when time runs out, Hermione, what happens then?" asked Harry in a slightly annoyed tone because she seemed to be taking all of this news lightly. She didn't really seem to care that much that the one she loved was threatened to be killed.  
"Well, Harry, after looking this over, it doesn't seem likely that Dumbledore is after you at all. There are lots of people with the same handwriting. Dumbledore happens to write with a loopy handwriting that is easily copied and is commonly used. Maybe someone is impersonating Dumbledore."  
"But who else has been watching me for years except for Dumbledore or Voldemort, and we know it's not Voldemort."  
"Harry, if this person is pulling a hoax they may not be being entirely truthful with you about things. Let's face it, how many people would tell you that they're going to kill you, Harry?"  
This made Harry remember something," Hermione, in the letter this person says that they tell all of their victims that he's going to kill them. That means that this person is experienced at killing."  
"And how many people has Dumbledore killed that we know of...and who's the last one he warned before killing?" perplexed Hermione.  
"That's the point, Hermione. We don't know who and how Dumbledore has killed.  
"Harry, listen to yourself! You're talking insanity! Why would Dumbledore kill anyone? Just look on the back of his chocolate frog card to see that he's a good guy!"  
  
At this Hermione pulled out a Dumbledore chocolate frog card from her pocket. They had stopped by a sweet shop while in Diagon Alley. Harry took it and read, as he had almost five years ago,

" ALBUS DUMBLEDORE  
Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts  
  
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times,  
Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the  
dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the  
twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy  
with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore  
enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."  
  
"OK, I guess that I was overreacting to this whole thing," said Harry. "He can't be a bad guy if he's done so much good already. I can't believe that that the poor guy has had to deal with two major dark wizards in one century, though, huh?"  
Hermione looked lost in thought (as she did often), but came back to her senses to say, "Yeah...I can't believe his luck."  
  
The issue of Harry's murderer pretty much died down over the next few days. Harry came to the conclusion that it was a very bad joke that could have been played by Malfoy or any other sick wizard that might have been angry with Harry for "Bringing Back Voldemort", as Harry had seen on one of the headlines of a wizard tabloid that was along the same lines as the Quiddler. Apparently some crazed people thought that Harry had brought back Voldemort to sustain his position of fame a bit longer. This was, of course, a small number after what had happened in June, but there were still some crazies out there.  
  
It was the morning of departure and Harry and Hermione were already packed and ready for the train when her parents woke up. They were OK with Harry and Hermione going out because they were both practically sixteen (or at least Harry was and Hermione was very close). They felt that they were old enough to date.  
  
It was a rather cramped car ride with the two trunks in the trunk and Hedwig and Crookshanks between Harry and Hermione in the backseat. There was little talk between them all as they were all very tired. When they finally got to King's Cross station they practically burst from the car. They all got out, Harry and Hermione grabbed their things (Harry got the trunks and Hermione got the pets). They all walked up to the space between platforms nine and ten. They had to say their goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Granger before they went through the wall because they, being Muggles, were obviously incapable of following them. Hermione hugged both of her parents before Mr. Granger said to Harry,  
"You will be good to my daughter, you hear?"  
"Yes sir," said Harry smiling.  
"Good. Now, off you two. You don't want to miss the train!" cried Mrs. Granger.  
"Thanks again for having me this summer," said Harry in all sincerity.  
"Oh, you're welcome. Now go."  
  
The two did as they were told and slipped as inconspicuously through the barrier as they could without drawing too much attention to themselves. Once on the other side they were met by the familiar bustle of the crowd of people on the departing platform. Harry almost immediately spotted Mrs. Weasley among everyone with her great, red hair. They went up to her and,  
"Oh, Harry! Hermione! How have you been?" she cried once she saw them.  
"We're fine. How was your summer Mrs. Weasley?" asked Harry.  
"It was fine dear, just fine," said Mrs. Weasley. Then she pulled them both into a huge hug. She said to them both so that no one else could hear her," I want you two to stay out of trouble, OK?"  
"Yes Mrs. Weasley."  
"Uh-huh."  
"Now go, you two. Ron and Ginny are already on the train. Hurry, they're getting ready to blow the last whistle!"  
"Bye!" said Hermione and Harry together in unison.  
"Yes dears. I may see you over the Christmas holidays. Go!"  
  
They listened and made their way towards the train. Harry was about to make it when he was stopped from behind. He turned around to find himself face-to-face with Remus Lupin and Mad-eye Moody.  
"Almost thought we'd lost you, there, Harry! Why didn't you write every three days?" growled Moody, but Harry could see that he was only teasing.  
"Had a good summer, Harry?" asked Lupin.  
"For the most part. How are you guys doing at the order?" asked Harry.  
"Oh, we're doing well," said Lupin." Much better than we would be doing if we hadn't gotten the head start that you gave us when he first returned."  
"That's good to know," said Harry as he spotted the train starting to move. "Look, I've got to go. Thanks for coming here."  
"No problem," said Moody. "Just keep in touch and watch out- Dumbledore's been acting a bit strange ever since the incident at the Ministry."  
  
Before Harry could react to that statement Moody thrust him on to the train before it was moving too fast for him to board it. Harry waved out the from the train to Moody, Lupin, and Mrs. Weasley as they soared away behind him.  
"Get in yer compartment," said the train attendant behind him who wanted to close the door Harry was standing in.  
  
Harry went off in search of a compartment (it would be difficult now that he was the last one on the train. He would be sharing a compartment with someone...). As he walked down the corridor, checking the compartments as he went by and looking for someone that he recognized, he couldn't help but think of what Moody had just said to him. Was it coincidence that Dumbledore had been acting strange around the same time he had received a letter from a killer with handwriting that was very close to that of Dumbledore's?  
"No," said that voice in his head, but Harry tried to shrug it off and kept looking for a compartment. Then behind him he heard Ron's voice,  
"Hey, Harry! Come back here. Hermione and I have found a compartment to ourselves."  
Harry turned around to greet his friend and said, "Cool. I'm coming."  
  
Harry walked the short distance and Ron let Harry walk past him and into the compartment. Inside he found Hermione already sitting down with Crookshanks in her lap.  
"Hello. What did Lupin and Moody want?" she asked.  
"Nothing," Harry lied." They just wanted to see me onto the train. I guess that I've still got people from the Order watching me, but they're getting good at it. I haven't seen a single one." Then Harry really did wonder if there were still people guarding him, but changed the subject by asking,  
"Aren't you two supposed to be on Prefect duty right now?"  
"Oh no. We will have to later, I suppose. But right now they're giving us a break," said Ron.  
"Who's 'they'?" inquired Harry.  
"The teachers," said Hermione.  
"Since when do the teachers ride on the train with us?" asked Harry, who was now very confused.  
"Since it's been made official that V-voldemort's back," said Ron. "They have to up the security measures due to many complaint letters from angry parents about the safety of their children."  
"Oh," said Harry, comprehension drawing across his face.  
  
Ron and Harry had taken seats opposite each other with Harry next to Hermione and Ron by his lonesome. Hermione looked up and thought it the opportune moment to tell Ron of Harry and her feelings for each other, so she said while choosing her words carefully,  
"Ron, Harry and I have been meaning to tell you something. We...erm...have been...going out for a couple of weeks now and thought that you should know." Hermione said all of this rather fast and then started blushing and looked out the window. Ron just stared for a good two minutes with no expression on his face while Harry sat uncomfortably in the silence until Ron said,  
"Umm, that's...umm...great." Then he seemed to come to his senses, and said," Yeah, that's wonderful. I think that that's absolutely grand...just grand!"  
  
Harry could see the hurt look in his friend's eyes and knew then that Ron had liked Hermione. Part of Harry said to take Hermione and run with her, while the other half felt bad for his best friend. It was a very uneventful train ride to Hogwarts that day. 


	7. Welcome Back

By the time they had arrived at the station the trio had already changed into their Hogwarts robes and were ready to depart. Hermione and Ron had to part with Harry for a while to fulfill their prefect duties. Harry had just stepped off of the train when he heard the familiar voice,  
"Firs' years over here!"  
Harry walked over to his good friend and said," So, you decided to come back, eh?"  
"Harry! Good ter see ya! Listen, I don't have to much time righ' now. Why don' you and the others come visit me in me cabin on Saturday?"  
"That would be great," said Harry. "We'll see you then."  
  
Harry then walked to the carriage that he had seen Ron and Hermione walk towards. Before he got in, something caught his eyes. By now Harry had become used to seeing thestrals when others could not, but the one pulling this particular carriage was bowing to him. Harry wondered at this until something in his mind clicked. It was as though something fell into place in his head that had been waiting there for a while. Harry bowed back to the thestrals who had given Harry his ride to the Ministry of Magic in June. Then he instinctively stroked his mane and finally climbed into the carriage.  
"What was that about?" asked Ron.  
"Oh, it was just one of the thestrals that helped us out last summer," said Harry.  
"You mean those horse-things that you can only see when you've seen someone die?" Harry nodded.  
"I was thanking him," said Harry.  
  
As the carriages rode through the village of Hogsmeade Harry noticed that many people were looking out of their windows to watch them pass. Whenever Harry caught someone's eye he could have sworn that he received a wink in return...or possibly he was imagining things.  
"So," said Ron," Any ideas of who we're going to be filling all of the empty spaces on the Quidditch team with? I heard that you've been made captain. I'm glad it wasn't me, I wouldn't be able to handle that kind of responsibility."  
  
Ron seemed to have forgotten about what Hermione had told him on the train, but Harry was sure that he was just covering things up. Hopefully Ron would deal with the whole ordeal peacefully...maybe it would all just blow over. Harry wasn't about to just break up with Hermione because Ron wanted him to, anyway. He really liked her, and that was all that mattered at the time.  
"Well," replied Harry," I suppose that we're going to have to hold tryouts and scratch the beaters. By the looks of it, those two are absolutely horrible."  
Ron nodded his head vigorously and said," Yeah, those two are bad. I hope that there is some better talent this year, or we're doomed."  
"It looks like Ginny wants to try out for chaser. I'm sure that she'll make it on the team no problem."  
  
When they arrived at the castle they walked through the great front doors and into the great hall. They sat down at their normal house table and began waiting for the first years to arrive. Once they sat down Harry noticed Hermione scanning the front of the hall where the teachers sat.  
"What are you doing Hermione?" asked Harry.  
"I'm looking for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I can't find him."  
"Maybe that's because he is a she," said a warm voice behind the three of them. When all three had turned around she continued," Hello, I couldn't help but overhear what you said Miss. I am the new Defense Against the Dark Arts and my name is Professor Stalny, and I am a woman."  
"Oh," said Hermione, slightly embarrassed," I'm very sorry about that."  
"No harm done, Miss. Your name is?" asked Professor Stalny.  
"Hermione Granger," said Hermione," And this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." Hermione indicated the appropriate person when she had said their names.  
"Nice to meet you Granger," she held out a hand,"Same to you Weasley, I recognize you."  
"I come from a rather big family," said Ron as he took Professor Stalny's hand.  
"Oh. And you, Mr. Potter. I'm assuming that you're "the" Harry Potter, am I correct?" asked Stalny as she shook his hand.  
"Yes," said Harry, "It's nice to meet you."  
"You too, Mr. Potter," said Stalny. Then she addressed the group, "Well, I expect to see you all in my class sometime this week! Good evening."  
"Good evening," Harry, Hermione, and Ron in unison.  
  
Professor Stalny was an average sized woman with a dirty blond pony- tail, a light composition, and robes in good condition. Judging by the last one, Harry was pretty sure that Stalny was not a werewolf, and if she was she hid it well. Stalny then walked up to the staff table and took an empty chair next to Professor Flitwick, the vertically challenged Charms teacher.  
"Well," said Hermione, "They've found someone decent enough. Stalny's a high ranking teacher in the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
  
Harry had to admit that Hermione had a point. All of their Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers in the past had not been up to par (with the exception of Lupin, of course). He wasn't exactly sure why Hermione paid attention to things such as "high ranking teacher..." but whatever her reasons, she did know it.  
  
The next moment Professor McGonagall burst into the Great Hall followed by a trail of very nervous-looking first years. Peeves the Poltergeist was to be spotted above one unsuspecting first year with a water balloon in his hands. Harry watched the proceedings with mild interest while wondering how it was that a ghost could carry a solid water balloon, yet he could go straight through walls as if they were made of air.  
"Peeves, I'm warning you!" exclaimed McGonagall with a fierce glint in her eyes as she said it.  
Dumbledore had entered the hall from the use of the chamber that resided behind the staff table which Harry had entered during his fourth year. Harry watched him with slight apprehension as to what would happen if Dumbledore spotted him as he carried a stool with a well-worn hat upon it from the chamber and placed it down in front of the staff table. He looked up to see most of the students watching the humorous argument between McGonagall and Peeves. He said, "Peeves, if you would be so kind as to leave the first years alone for the time being."  
  
Peeves immediately ceased his pestering and zoomed away. But before he had traveled out of earshot a rather large raspberry was heard ringing throughout the hall.  
  
"Well," said Dumbledore," welcome to a new, and for some of you, first, year at Hogwarts. I would like to make some opening statements before the Sorting begins. First of all, the Forbidden Forest remains, and is now possibly even more so, forbidden to students at all times. There are dangers within that forest that no one would want to face at any time." Dumbledore paused for a moment to look in the direction of the Gryffindor table; Harry had the feeling he had been speaking mostly to him, Ron, and Hermione about the forest. "I would also like it to be known that Mr. Filch, the caretaker here at Hogwarts, would like 'all of you hooligans' to be reminded of the list of all things that are prohibited to bring, do, say, wear, etc., here in Hogwarts. Please take his wishes into great care or I am sure that the educational decree that allows whipping and general torture of students can be swiftly reinstated," said Dumbledore jokingly. For a second, Filch had really looked hopeful until he saw the smile on Dumbledore's face. "That reminds me of what else I was planning on saying. Dolores Umbridge has been removed from this institution, as I'm sure you can see for yourselves. Along with her removal also came the removal of many other things. The occupation of Hogwart's High Inquisitor has been removed, and along with it, so has the Inquisitorial Squad. This also invalidates all educational decrees put into effect by Dolores Jane Umbridge."  
  
At this last statement almost the whole of the Great Hall cheered in joy. The only ones who didn't cheer were some Slytherins who had been on the Inquisitorial Squad, Malfoy being one of the more prominent ones.  
"Calm down, calm down," said Dumbledore. "Now, let the Sorting begin!"  
  
As though the hat had been waiting for this cue (and Harry was sure that it had been), it burst into song as soon as Dumbledore had finished his sentence. This startled many first years that Harry suspected hadn't heard anything about the sorting hat just as he hadn't. The hat's song went as follows:  
  
"I've told you once,  
I've told you twice,  
So of it I'll say no more.  
We all know of the houses,  
In numbers there are four.  
There's Gryffindor and Ravenclaw,  
Hufflepuff and Slytherin.  
Each year they all compete,  
But only one shall win.  
Now I am done telling you  
Of all the Hogwarts dorms.  
So now I will stray a little  
From what's considered the norm.  
We all know that Voldemort-"  
  
There was a sharp intake of breath from the hall at the sound of Voldemort's name.  
  
"-Has newly regained his head.  
So listen to The Boy Who Lived,  
Or you'll surely wind up dead.  
So while I'm on the subject  
I will say something new  
Harry, listen carefully,  
The little orb was not true.  
There is a definite winner  
Who will come from your fight.  
It may yet be the Half Blood Prince  
Who aids you in your plight.  
Now that you've all listened  
To this raggedy, old hat,  
Please, oh please, just go and eat  
Until you're nice and fat!"  
  
Silence fell over the Great Hall. Silence of the intensity of which Harry was pretty sure that he had never experienced before. The only time he could recall this type of silence was back in his fourth year when his name had been pulled from the goblet. Then everybody's head had turned to him. The same, Harry now noticed, was slowly happening now. People all over the hall had their heads darting in Harry's direction. Harry couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.  
  
Professor McGonagall then began the sorting by calling off a list of names for the first years to go up to the hat and be sorted. She even shot Harry a glance or two herself. Harry didn't listen to any of the sorting or where anyone went. The Sorting seemed to drag on forever in Harry's mind. When it was over all attention was almost immediately turned to him again. He was gratefully saved when the plates magically filled with food. Harry wondered if somewhere down below Dobby knew who the hat was speaking of when he had mentioned this Half Blood Prince.  
  
Hermione nudged Harry to get his attention. He faced her to see her shrug. Apparently she was just as confused about the whole Half Blood Prince thing as Harry was.  
"Harry!"  
Harry quickly looked around for the source of the familiar voice of Nearly-Headless Nick to find him coming across the hall towards him. "Hello Nick."  
"Yes, hello. Do you have any idea what that was just about?"  
  
Harry just gave a blank look.  
"I guess not. Harry, I guess that you don't know this, but the Sorting Hat has never addressed an individual student during its song like that. You don't know how weird this is. It only happened once before to another student quite a while back...I've forgotten his name but maybe I'll find out for you."  
"That would be nice," said Harry. "Thank you."  
"Oh, it's no problem Harry. Look, I've got to run. Bye!"  
"See ya!" said Harry. Now he was really worried: only one other student in the history of Hogwarts? Surely it hadn't been Voldemort, had it? Or was it the Half Blood Prince? Harry was utterly confused and tried to occupy his mind by eating something. He knew that he was very hungry, but he just couldn't eat for some reason. The meal went by very slowly, just like the Sorting. Harry found himself very tired when the last of the peanut butter treacle disappeared and the glasses emptied themselves. He got up and began heading for the entrance hall when his name was called in the distance.  
"Harry!"  
  
Not now, thought Harry. He turned around to see Dumbledore's face beckoning Harry towards him. Definitely not now, thought Harry to himself. He grudgingly pushed back through the crowd of students that were now staring at him with thorough interest. "Why was he going to Dumbledore?" they thought. "What had the Golden Boy got himself into now?" Harry found himself furious at the crowd even though no one had said a thing until,  
"Hey Potty," cried Malfoy, "Off to cuddle with your best mate, Dumbledore?"  
  
Harry tried hard not to react to this statement. He controlled himself by remembering how he had put Malfoy's father, Luscious, in Azkaban.  
"But not for long," said the voice. Harry agreed. If he had thought about Luscious a little bit longer then he may have wondered how he was able to dream about Voldemort torturing someone who was in jail.  
  
Harry arrived before Dumbledore. He tried to look as tired as he could so that he could get out of this quickly. He also didn't want to be alone with Dumbledore for too long, if he had been acting strangely.  
"Hello Harry. Have you been reading the Prophet I sent to you?"  
"Yes sir. What is it that you want?" Harry hoped that he hadn't sounded too cold when he had asked that.  
"I would like you to come with me to my office for a little fireside chat. There are some things that I need to go over with you. And then there are some things I need to tell you," said Dumbledore in a voice that suggested he meant no harm.  
"OK," said Harry. What choice did he have? Deny Dumbledore and be questioned as to why he was acting paranoid?  
"Good, please follow me."  
  
As they walked away from the staff table some of the teachers bid them good-night. Harry walked on drowsily behind Dumbledore. It had been a long day and Harry was determined to not show any signs that he was afraid of Dumbledore.  
"Just what we need," said the voice," A conversation with a killer." 


	8. A Conversation With a Killer

"So, Harry," said Dumbledore from behind his usual half-moon spectacles with that blue twinkle in his eyes. Harry noticed that it was a considerably smaller twinkle than he had seen on other occasion. Maybe Harry hadn't realized that they were twinkling at the same brightness as always because he hadn't looked at them for almost a year? This thought rekindled some anger in Harry that he had thought to be gone. He looked at Dumbledore and then guiltily remembered that he, Harry, had busted up this office just a couple of months ago, but Dumbledore had no trace of emotion on his old, serene face. Then again, he rarely ever did. "I suspect that you are curious as to why I have called you here, am I right?"  
Harry nodded his head and said, "Yes, professor. And I also want you to know that I am sorry for the way that I acted last time I was in your office." But deep down, probably where that annoying voice was located, Harry wondered if he really were sorry about breaking this man's things. But Harry shooed these thoughts away and said," Sir, I also want you to know that I am sorry for the way I acted last year about being angry because I felt left out. I was being a huge git, but I think I've come to my senses. I realize that it was all for my own good."  
"That is all very well, Harry; but I have called you here for a different reason." After getting a questioning look from Harry Dumbledore continued to say," I feel that it would be in your best interest to study Occlumency again."  
Harry immediately protested by saying," But professor, Snape would kill me if I showed up for a lesson! Did he tell you what happened?"  
"No, Harry, he didn't. I don't need to know, but I still wish for you to continue your studies. There are other ways that Voldemort can fool you through your mind; he may not use an image of something next time. So you will be pleased to hear that you shall be studying with me."  
Harry looked visibly happier, but then his face fell as he said," But aren't you worried about Voldemort using me to get to you?"  
"To some extent, yes, Harry, I am; but I also think that Voldemort has realized that we have realized that he might be using you to spy. What I am more concerned with is him learning the prophecy through you. That is not what we want right now."  
  
Harry thought about this for a moment. In his mind he knew that there was really no objection to continuing his lessons to becoming an occlumens. But what if Dumbledore really was the killer? Harry couldn't object because then Dumbledore would know that Harry was onto him; that is if there was anything to be onto...  
"Professor, can I ask you something?"  
"We've done this before, but yes, you may ask me another thing."  
"If I have to kill Voldemort or Voldemort has to kill me, wouldn't that imply that one would have to sneak up on the other and kill him by surprise?"  
"I'm afraid that I don't understand, Harry," said Dumbledore.  
"Well, back in my fourth year when I was fighting Voldemort, our wands did that priori incantatem thing or something. We can't fight head to head because our wands won't let us. That means that this won't end in a duel; it'll have to be a sneak attack or an attack without wands."  
"Ahhh, I see the dilemma now," said Dumbledore." You are correct Harry, this will not be as simple as it seems."  
  
Dumbledore then sank back into his chair, obviously deep in thought. He looked up at Harry and looked a little surprised to see Harry still in his office (some of the strange behavior?). Then Dumbledore said, "Harry, I bid you goodnight. Our lessons will be every Thursday at seven o clock sharp."  
  
Then he bid Harry goodnight again and just as Harry was about to travel down the spiral staircase he remembered something that he had wanted to ask. He practically ran to the office door and knocked. After a moment of silence he heard Dumbledore get up and start walking ever so slowly towards the door. Sometimes Harry wondered if this slowness was intentional just to aggravate people. Harry knew for a fact that he could move much faster. He had seen him in his battle against Voldemort just last June. When Dumbledore finally opened the door and looked at Harry (Harry was almost as tall as him now), he asked,  
"Did you forget something, Harry?"  
  
"Well, sort of," said Harry. "I wanted to know if you knew why the sorting hat addressed me personally tonight at the feast. Nearly-Headless Nick said he'd heard of it happening quite a long time ago, but he couldn't remember who. I was also wondering if you knew who this mysterious Half Blood Prince is, and how he might help me."  
"Very wise questions you ask me," said Dumbledore," I was wondering when you would ask and was kind of surprised when you hadn't asked before you left. As for the answers to your questions I will tell you to my best ability, as long as I haven't forgotten something in my old age.  
"It all started when I was at Hogwarts a long time ago; when I was in school just like you," Harry didn't want to think about how long ago it was when Dumbledore was in Hogwarts," In my fourth year the sorting hat named someone by the name of Graham Allan Grindelwald as the Half Blood Prince. His task was to establish equality among all of the pure-bloods, half- bloods, and those who were Muggle-born in the wizarding community. He was chosen because he himself was from a great line of pure-blood wizards who were known to be kind to those wizards who were not of pure-blood. Eventually the Grindelwald family was known as the Half Blood Family because of their efforts to join together the wizarding community. Some say that they even had plans to make peace with the Muggle community, but no one knows that for certain."  
"Why not, sir?" asked Harry, eager to learn more. He was sure that he recognized the name Grindelwald from somewhere.  
"You see, there were always pure-blood families who hated the idea of associating with what they considered lesser people, or wizards that were not of pure-blood. Therefore they decided to kill most of Grindelwald's family in an effort to stop their progress. This made Graham go under much stress. After some years of harassment from the rest of the Community he eventually cracked under the pressure. Some say he went mad, others say he just didn't want to go on trying to succeed at a fruitless effort any longer. To me, it was all the same because he became a Dark Wizard in the end. As you may recall from my chocolate frog card, I was the one to defeat him in the end. Grindelwald is gone, but there are still others that are for unity in the wizarding community, though few they may be.  
"So you see, the sorting hat's song confused me because I know for a fact that the Half Blood Prince, or Grindelwald if you like, is gone. I don't see how he would be able to "aid you in your plight" when he is gone. I am assuming that your plight is that which the prophecy states, the one between you and Voldemort. Anyway, I am glad to have helped you, Harry. Now, you should go off to bed; it is getting late and you gave class tomorrow!"  
  
Harry said thank you and good night once more. He was halfway down the revolving staircase when he considered going back up to tell Dumbledore about the killer's letter. Then Harry decided that he had bothered Dumbledore enough for one evening and wandered off to bed with sleep already trying to gum his eyes shut. Harry wondered what time it was for he had forgotten his watch. He knew that it must be fairly late, at least past curfew, for there was not a soul in sight as Harry walked back to the Gryffindor Tower. As Harry was longing so much for his four poster bed he couldn't help but think of what Dumbledore had told him. Harry was slightly worried about the fact that a known dead guy was supposed to be helping him to fight against Voldemort. But then Harry worried about how Dumbledore affirmed one of Harry's fears: Voldemort was not going to be finished off in a head to head duel. There was a bright side, though. This meant that as long as Harry was able to react quickly enough, he would be able to say a counter spell to Voldemort and trigger the priori thingy again. That way he wouldn't die in a duel either.  
  
But this left Harry to other thoughts. If only Voldemort could kill him, then did that mean that Harry could not be killed by a Death Eater or some other cause of death? Could he try to hang himself, but live anyway because of the prophecy? Harry wasn't too eager to find out if this were true or not. He then thought of another part of the hat's song: The little orb wasn't true; there is a definite winner... Was the hat referring to the prophecy? He must be because Harry could not think of any other explanation for this statement. So the prophecy was wrong? It wasn't a question of who would win between Harry and Voldemort: that had apparently already been decided. But by whom? Trelawney was wrong? Well, Harry wasn't too shocked by that...  
"Are you coming in or not?"  
  
Harry was startled severely by this question until he looked up to find that his feet had led him to Gryffindor Tower without his help. Harry had been so last in thought that he had not noticed that he had arrived at the tower.  
"I'm sorry...I didn't catch that," was all that Harry could manage.  
  
"I want to know if you're coming in, because if you are then hurry up; I'm tired," said the portrait of the Fat Lady in a rather grumpy tone. Harry was about to say that he was going in and that she could cool it until he realized that he had no idea what the password was. His detour with Dumbledore had caused to miss the prefects telling everyone what the new password was.  
"Well?" she asked.  
  
Harry was spared the effort of pleading entrance without a password (which he knew he would never get when he thought of poor Neville that one time...), when the portrait swung forward and Hermione poked her head out to greet him.  
"Hey!" she said.  
"Hello," said Harry in a very tired tone of voice.  
"Come in," said Hermione," We've been waiting for you."  
Harry could only assume that she meant her and Ron when he heard a great "Hrmpf" from behind him.  
"Oh, sorry," said Harry to the portrait. She gave him a nasty glare and swung shut so fast that Harry had to jump into the common room so as not to have his leg caught by her. This caused Harry to knock down a very surprised Hermione and land right on top of her.  
"Well, I had no idea that you'd be that happy to see me," said Hermione mischievously.  
Harry began blushing when Ron said," Come on you two, can't you do that somewhere else?"  
  
Harry and Hermione quickly got to their feet and went to join Ron by the fireside.  
"So Harry, what did Dumbledore want?" asked Hermione.  
"Oh, not much," Harry lied. He was really tired and just wanted to turn in for the night. But right away he could tell that Hermione knew that he was lying and wanted to know what had happened.  
"OK, so it wasn't nothing," said Harry," Dumbledore just wanted me to know that I'll be continuing Occlumency lessons, but this time with him, not Snape." Well, he was giving them at least half of the truth, right? They didn't need to know everything...at least not yet. He would tell them another time. Besides, Ron hadn't even heard about the prophecy yet and it would take too much time to explain that to him and then tell them what had been said. Harry looked at Ron and saw that he was tired, too.  
"What, Snape doesn't want to do it, Harry?" asked Ron.  
"Yeah, something like that," he said. Ron and Hermione still didn't know about what he had seen in the pensieve that day in Snape's office that head caused him to stop giving Harry lessons. He wasn't sure if either of them knew what a pensieve was. Well, he knew that Hermione would know; she seemed to know everything sometimes, but Harry liked that. Ron would most definitely not know what one was unless he had somehow heard about them in passing at one time or other.  
"Well, did Dumbledore say anything about the sorting hat's song?" asked Hermione. Harry knew that one of them was bound to ask this question. Harry was honestly not up to telling them about it right then.  
"Well," said Harry," Yes, but can we talk about this tomorrow or something? I'm literally falling asleep on my feet here."  
  
Hermione looked at Harry with an expression that obviously said that she didn't want to wait for tomorrow to come. She had to agree when she saw the desperate look in Harry's eyes and the fact that Ron had fallen asleep. She figured it best wait until the morning. But she wasn't going to let Harry off too easy because she said,  
"Well, can I at least know if he said anything about the prophecy?"  
Harry thought for a moment. Then he said," Yes. But don't force it out of me now, I really am too tired. I might mix up some fact or other at this rate because of my sleepiness. You wouldn't want that, would you?"  
"No," said Hermione. She moved closer to Harry as she said her next bit," I wouldn't want that at all." With that Hermione locked her lips with Harry's as she pulled him into a hug. As they finished kissing she whispered in Harry's ear," Good night. I love you."  
"I love you, too," said Harry, and he knew that he was blushing. It was a good thing that Hermione hadn't kissed him in public. Once the school knew that they were going out, the whole entire wizarding community would know, and next thing he knew, a picture of Hermione and him (which he would have no idea how it was taken) in which they were kissing would be plastered on the front cover of the Daily Prophet across the country. He didn't want that for Hermione. He wanted to keep their relationship secret until Hermione said that she was ready for the publicity.  
  
Then Harry woke Ron up and they dragged themselves up to the boys' dormitory. When they arrived all of the other boys were already sleeping and Neville's bed smelled suspiciously like stink-sap. Harry and Ron undressed themselves and crawled into their four-poster beds. Harry fell sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow (he truly was tired). The next morning when Harry's dazed mind awoke the first thing he heard was,  
"Mondays. I just hate Mondays," said by the voice in his head.  
Harry couldn't have agreed with the voice more. 


	9. Just One More Problem

A/N: I am sincerely sorry for the absurd update gap, but I just was not in the mood for typing lately. So, without further ado, I give you all chapter nine.  
  
Harry awoke the next day with a bleary look in his eyes. He got out of bed and stumbled while pulling on his robes. Ron was still snoring in his bed. By the sounds of it, there was no waking him up. Harry made his way down into the common room to find Hermione. She looked as though she had been waiting for him. He greeted her good morning and received a hug. She smiled at him and they were about to walk to breakfast together when Harry stopped short and said,  
"Are we ready to let the outside world know that we're going out?"  
"Harry, all of the girls in my dormitory already know, I couldn't help myself. Everyone else id bound to know by the end of breakfast. Besides, I was able to deal with Rita, wasn't I?"  
"I guess so," said Harry, but he was worried all the same.  
"Now," said Hermione, "Why don't you tell me about what happened in Dumbledore's office last night?"  
  
So then Harry had no choice but to tell Hermione about what had happened in Dumbledore's office. He told her all of what he had heard about the mysterious Half Blood Prince. She was naturally shocked by this information. She seemed just as confused as Harry and Dumbledore as to how a dead wizard could help Harry defeat Voldemort. And a dark wizard at that!  
  
But when Harry was sure that Hermione was done questioning about the song, she asked something else,  
"Harry, what did Dumbledore say about the prophecy?"  
Harry should've seen this coming. He simply told her about the fact that neither he nor Voldemort would die in a duel face to face. It would have to be a carefully planned event. This seemed to silence Hermione.  
  
By now the two of them had made their way to the great hall and were entering it to eat their breakfast. They arrived just as the schedules were being handed out by the teachers. Harry had his handed to him from Professor McGonagall. She had an unusual expression upon her face. It was a cross between glee and a feeble attempt to keep her usual straight and serious face. Harry was puzzled by this look until he looked at his schedule for himself. What he saw was most surprising. He had managed to achieve N.E.W.T. level classes in transfiguration, charms, defense against the dark arts, herbology, care of magical creatures, and (Harry nearly choked on some toast at this next one) potions. He immediately looked up at the staff table to see Snape staring at him. He immediately felt a small twinge in his scar. He could sense the distaste in Snape's glare. Harry knew that if Snape had had it his way then Harry would not be in his N.E.W.T. class. Harry had a strange feeling that McGonagall had been involved in this somehow...  
  
The day passed by in a daze. It seemed as though time had slowed to a screeching halt. Every time Harry looked down at his watch the minute hand had moved ever so slightly. Harry had potions that day. It was very different now. Most of his classes were smaller because not everyone had made it to advanced classes. Harry saw that Neville and Ron were missing from the normal fray of people. Harry felt lonely without Ron with him in all of his classes. On the bright side, Hermione was, obviously, in all of the advanced classes and was with Harry a lot of the time.  
  
Today Snape was in a particularly nasty mood. He kept shooting his usual nasty glares in Harry's direction, but Harry could've sworn that they were even more frequent than usual. Harry and Hermione had sat next to each other and were working on the ridiculously difficult potion that Snape had assigned them all. It was the first day of class and Harry could already tell that it was going to be a very hard year. He had been hoping for a break considering that they had just had their O.W.L.s last year, but apparently classes were only to get harder to prepare them for the grueling N.E.W.T.s of seventh year.  
  
At the end of class Harry took a flagon of his potion and brought it to Snape's desk. He half expected Snape to somehow manage to make his work meaningless as he so often did. Harry was on his way out when Snape called, "Potter, I would like a word with you."  
  
Harry had no choice but to turn around and face whatever torment Snape had in store. He told Hermione that he'd catch up with her at lunch and then went to talk to Snape. "Yes, Professor?" "I would like you to know that you are in this class not because I picked you. If it were up to me you would have received a D on your O.W.L. But, do to some friends of yours in high places; I am forced to endure your presence. I was sincerely hoping to be rid of you. I just want you to know that if you slip up just once, you shall be thrown from this class never to return. You best start studying with Miss Granger. She, at least, seems to know what she is doing."  
  
Snape said all of this with a look of utmost severity. Harry did not doubt a word that he said. He said good day and turned to leave; but before he made it out of the door Snape called him back, "Oh yes. Potter, it is my duty to inform you that your godfather, Sirius Black, will be having his will read at the end of June. I do not know what is in the will, only that you are mentioned within it." This hit Harry off balance completely. That was the last thing that he had expected from Snape. After he had recovered he said, "Thank you for telling me, sir, but may I ask why it is going to be read so long after his...err...death?" Snape looked at Harry for a moment. For a second Harry almost thought that there was a small, almost microscopic, hint of pity in his gaze. Harry was sure that he had imagined it. Then Snape said, "I am sure that your godfather had his reasons for wanting his will red so long after his death. Now, if you would please go and eat your lunch."  
  
Harry then walked from Snape's office. He had not expected to hear about Sirius the day that he returned to Hogwarts. He felt oddly weak after talking about Sirius. Harry found that he was not very hungry, so he decided to skip lunch so that he could be alone for a while.  
  
He began his journey back to the Gryffindor tower. Lucky for him there were no eerie voices coming from inside the walls like they had years back. Sirius had written a will? Harry wondered if Sirius had expected to die. Then he wondered if he should consider writing his own will. If Voldemort and possibly Dumbledore, the two most powerful wizards in the world, were out to get him then he was in some deep trouble. Harry was lost in thought once again when he reached the tower. This time he remembered to give the password before the fat lady bit him.  
  
Harry went upstairs to the boys' dormitory. He just wanted to take a quick rest before he had Defense Against the Dark Arts to go to. He was about to sit on his bed before he found his Firebolt sitting on it for him. Harry went ecstatic. He then remembered that he was back on the quidditch team. And he was captain. This brought new thoughts to his head. When to arrange tryouts? He would do it on Friday. That was always an open night. He couldn't do it Thursday because of his occlumency lesson with Dumbledore. Harry noticed that his schedule seemed to be filling itself. He could only imagine how much homework he would be getting in his N.E.W.T. courses. Maybe Hermione would help him with his homework...  
  
Hermione! She would be worried about him. And Ron would be, too. Harry hadn't seen him since breakfast because he and Hermione had had advanced Charms while Ron was in transfiguration. Harry decided that he would start wandering over to Professor Stalney's room. She seemed like she was a good enough teacher. Harry wondered what had caused her to take the job. That was, seeing how they had lost five consecutive Defense Against the Dark Arts for the last five years. Most were under the delusion that the job was cursed.  
  
Harry was first to Professor Stalney's room, to no one's surprise. She was already in her room and was looking over some notes (probably the curriculum). She greeted him and let him inside. Harry was trapped in a very awkward silence. He had the feeling that Stalney had whenever she glanced at him. It seemed like it had taken forever for the rest of the class to start filing into the classroom. Hermione was one of the earliest people into the room; besides Harry, that is. She immediately sat down next to Harry and gave him a concerned look while she asked, "Why weren't you at lunch? Are you OK?"  
  
Harry just nodded and told her that he was fine. He also explained why Snape had held him back and the whole thing about Sirius' will. Being Hermione, she did not press for any in-depth answers. Then Harry looked up to see, somewhat to his surprise, Ron come walking through the door. He looked over to see Harry and Hermione and a grin spread across his face. "Well, at least I won't always be away from my two best mates," said Ron as he took a seat next to Harry and Hermione. "So, you made it in," said Harry. He was really happy about this. He hadn't expected to see Ron that much this year. He was getting kind of down about it. Seeing him brightened his day considerably. "What took you so long?" asked Hermione. "We left lunch together and then you just disappeared. You don't have a time-turner, do you?" Ron could tell that she was joking and said, "No, I just...err...was talking to someone." Harry was suspecting what Hermione confirmed next, "Ron has a crush on Parvati. Isn't that cute?" "Umm, yeah, I guess so," said Harry. "So, what did she say?" "I didn't ask her anything yet," said a violently red Ron, "I was just talking to her. Trying to get on speaking terms with her."  
  
At that time, the bell rang. Class began and Professor Stalney began to speak, "Good afternoon, class. So, welcome to the N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts course. As you all know, I am the new teacher and will be guiding you along the way to your N.E.W.T. exams at the end of seventh year; as long as I am still teaching, that is. It seems that this is a tough job to keep for more than a year."  
  
There were a few chuckles at this last statement. She seemed to be a nice enough teacher. For most, as long as she didn't say "Wands away" then she was acceptable. Then they were given a first rate class lesson by a first rate teacher (something very rare at Hogwarts). There was nothing unusual or horrible about the lesson. It was average. This was based upon the fact that neither Harry nor Ron fell asleep or had a sword fight with their wands once the whole lesson. Professor Stalney seemed to be comparable to a Defense Against the Dark Arts version of McGonagall, except that Stalney was a lot less strict and uptight.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the lesson together. They could see that at least one of their classes would be normal for the year. Harry held Ron back for a moment. Hermione seemed to get the message and just kept walking. As soon as they were alone Harry asked, "So you like Parvati?" "Yeah," said Ron. He was blushing again, "I've liked her since third year." "But I thought you liked Hermione all this time?"  
  
"Well, I like her, but I like her like a sister. I guess I got a little over-protective on the train yesterday. Sometimes I think of her like another Ginny. But I was stupid. If anyone was to go out with Hermione, you would be my pick." "Thanks Ron. Now we just have to figure out how to get Parvati."  
  
Ron blushed even fierce. The two of them walked to their next class: Care of Magical Creatures.  
  
When they got there the first thing that they noticed was that Hagrid was teaching the lessons, not Grubbly-Plank. He seemed very happy to see the trio. They were equally excited to see him back. Before class started, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked up to Hagrid to say hello. Almost immediately Hermione asked,  
"So, is Grawp still back there?" She indicated the Forbidden Forest.  
  
Hagrid seemed uneasy when he answered and his voice was a little higher than that of usual for him, "Yeah...yeah, he's back there. Just come and see me on Saturday and we'll talk about...things."  
"Hagrid, there had better not be more of them back there!" said Hermione in her McGonagall-like tone.  
"Saturday," said Hagrid, "Saturday."  
  
Through the whole class he seemed a little uneasy. He would glance nervously at the forest from time to time. Harry was wondering as to the peculiar behavior, but all that Hagrid would say was to go see him on Saturday.  
  
At dinner that night, Harry was very glad that he and Ron had finally dropped Divination for good. They were done with the whole death-in-a- teacup thing. Harry had had his death predicted so many times and died not a single one of the gruesome deaths described that he had plainly had enough. He didn't want Trelawney staring at his scar. He wasn't too interested in the centaur's methods either.  
  
The days of their first week back were dragging by. By the looks of it, Transfiguration was going to be a very difficult course. Thursday went by without much to-do except for Harry's lesson with Dumbledore. To him, it was the same as it was with Snape. He didn't seem to making any headway and only more and more pain to his knees for every time that he fell on them. The only difference was that Dumbledore gave him words of advice and seemed like he really was eager to teach Harry the art of Occlumency. Snape just did it because he had to. Another plus was that he wasn't having any dreams that had to do with Voldemort. Harry suspected that this was because Voldemort didn't want him to have any dreams...yet.  
  
Harry tried valiantly to get the quidditch pitch for Friday, but the Slytherin team had the field booked for the whole week. The earliest opening Harry could find was the following Wednesday. He suspected that Snape had booked the field for the Slytherins since he was the head of Slytherin house. By Friday evening there was a considerable amount of homework waiting to be done over the weekend. Harry was exhausted from his classes. At least the homework diary Hermione had gotten him last year had driven him to do some of his homework. It wasn't like he was facing a mountain as he often found himself doing in his fifth year.  
  
Saturday came and Ron, Harry, and Hermione made their way down to Hagrid's hut after lunch. Hagrid greeted the three of them rather nervously. He offered them tea and rock candy (which might have been made from real rocks for all Harry could tell). Hermione couldn't hold herself any longer. She asked,  
"What is going on, Hagrid? Is this about Grawp?"  
Hagrid looked very nervous at this statement. He said, "Well, sort of. I want to talk to you about Grawp. But then there's something else that is pretty important. It's why I brought you all here."  
"What?" asked all three in unison.  
"Well," said Hagrid, "We're not just dealing with one giant anymore." 


	10. A Revolution Begins to Brew

Hermione nearly choked on her tea. Harry and Ron just sat by in shock. Hagrid looked almost ashamed of himself. The trio just looked at him as though hoping desperately that he would jump up and say, "April fools!" even though it was far from April. But he didn't. After a minute Harry found his voice and said,

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious, 'arry," said Hagrid.

"W-when did this happen?" stuttered Hermione.

"Over the summa," said Hagrid. "You guys remember how I told ya that some of the gians' migh' come if they were treated bad enough by their own kind, don' ya?"

The three of them all nodded their approval. Then Hermione said,

"So they've come looking for refuge?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," said Hagrid.

There was then a very dense silence. No one could think of anything to say. Harry was shocked. What if the giants revolted? What if they tried to overrun the school? He decided to ask Hagrid,

"Does anyone else know about the giants in the forest?"

"Well, Dumbledore knows o' course. I told 'im las' year. I figured he needed ter know abou' it."

Harry was shocked again. Dumbledore knew about this and allowed it?

"Duh," said that familiar voice, "Dumbledore sent Hagrid. He obviously was prepared to give board to giants if Hagrid and Maxime succeeded."

Harry had to agree with the voice on this. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Hermione brought up a very interesting point.

"Won't the centaurs be mad about this?"

"Hermione, the centaurs are already furious. The fact is that they have no control over it."

Harry could see the troubled look on Hermione's face. He tried hard to see her thoughts. He could not make heads or tails of what she had on her mind. They sat and drank their tea for a while longer before deciding that it was time to head back to the castle. They said that they had homework to do, which wasn't entirely false.

Once they were back to they common room they huddled into their favorite corner. Harry noticed that many people were looking at him. He had a feeling that it was more than usual. He was used to being stared at because of him being the boy who lived, but now it seemed like more people were staring.

He had a hunch of why this was happening, too. For one, the ministry of magic had just recently admitted to Voldemort's return to power and this caused many articles to contain his name over the summer and was still going. Harry had seen many new articles from Rita Skeeter. She had been released from Hermione's captivity. She was now free to write as long as she did not write anything bad about Harry. She had kept true to her word and was writing about Harry's heroic actions in the Department of Mysteries instead. He also noticed that she had somehow found out that Harry and Hermione were an item. She had begun writing articles filled with glee exclaiming how she had been right since Harry's fourth year about Hermione. Harry suspected that the fact that he and Hermione were going out was another reason for all of the staring.

Harry then shook his mind off of the thoughts about the staring and back to the giants. Would this cause any interference with school? He honestly didn't know, but hoped that Dumbledore knew what he planned to have the giants do. Harry didn't dare ask him because he was pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to know about them. Harry decided not to worry so much about them because there was literally nothing that he could do about it.

The rest of the day was devoted to homework. Harry was pleased to see that he was able to finish all of his homework on Saturday. This left Sunday free for him and Ron to discuss the Quidditch tactics for the year. Harry was a little nervous because all of his old team members were gone. He didn't really count Ron because he hadn't really played with him that much. Other than that, Alicia, Angelina, Katie, Fred, George, and Oliver were all gone. One of the best Gryffindor Quidditch teams that had ever played at Hogwart's was gone.

But Harry didn't let this get him down. He knew that Ron was good; and by the sounds of it Ginny was good, too (since she had been using the other Weasley's brooms and practicing on them, according to Hermione.). Tryouts were scheduled for Wednesday. Harry had wanted to take Sunday to practice with Ron and Ginny on the Quidditch pitch, but the Ravenclaws had stolen it from him.

At breakfast on Sunday Harry received a letter from none other than Remus Lupin. It read as follows,

_Harry,_

_How has your summer been? Well, I must say that things here have been very busy. I am sure by now that you heard about Sirius's will. I just wanted to let you know that...well, Sirius has appointed you as the reader of the will. This means that you have to read the will out loud next June in font of anyone that Sirius listed to attend the reading of his will. If you absolutely cannot do this then I have been appointed the secondary reader. I just want you to know that Sirius really wants you to read the will. _

_Your Friend,_

_Remus Lupin_

Harry then let Hermione and Ron read through the letter for themselves. Harry himself was pretty shocked by what Remus had to say. Harry wondered why Sirius wanted him to present the will. He also wondered why Remus, Sirius's childhood friends, was not the one with the responsibility. Harry did not dwell on this long for his scar throbbed painfully. It was the worst it had been in a while. Harry remembered a feeling of maddening happiness and then he blanked out.

Harry woke up in the hospital wing. His eyes were very blurry. Someone handed him his glasses. When he sat up and put them on the first thing that he saw was Dumbledore staring at him. Harry jumped slightly at this surprise and then said,

"H-hello professor."

"Hello Harry. How are you feeling?"

Harry thought about this for a moment. Then he considered the pain in his knees and the ache in his head.

"Alright," Harry lied. He didn't want to appear weak to anyone.

"Good," said Dumbledore, "Do you know why you are here?"

"No," said Harry honestly.

"Well, Sunday night you just started laughing uncontrollably at breakfast. Then you ran between the house tables with your arms over your head and crashed into a wall. You've been out since then."

"Since then? What's today?"

"It's Tuesday morning. You've been out for a while, Harry. Now, can I ask what caused this outburst? I assume that t had something to do with your scar, yes?"

"Uh-huh. Voldemort was extremely happy on Sunday morning. Something went right."

"Hmmm, that was when his death eaters broke out of Azkaban again. That stronghold is virtually powerless now that the dementors are under Voldemort's wing."

Harry was thrown back by this statement. So they were out of jail? Harry wondered how bad things were going to get now that Voldemort had his faithful servants back...

"Harry, we need to try to find a way to make these outbursts from Voldemort less painful on your part."

"Tell me about it."

Dumbledore then smiled and left Harry. It was then that Harry noticed two people were bobbing outside the infirmary door. One had extremely red hair while the other had bushy brown hair. As soon as Dumbledore was gone they rushed in, much to Madam Pomfrey's distress. She recognized them so she let them in to see Harry as they had so many times over the last five years.

"Harry! How are you?" asked Hermione anxiously.

"I'm much better, thanks."

"We already know what happened, mate," said Ron guiltily holding up something flesh colored that Harry knew was an extendable ear. "We heard you and Dumbledore talking and we already knew about the death eaters. It was all over the news yesterday. So, are they letting you out of this place anytime soon?"

"Hopefully," said Harry. "It'll be a tough job convincing Madam Pomfrey."

Hermione then hugged Harry tight. She was almost in tears on Harry's shoulder as she said,

"I'm so glad that you're OK. Some people were saying that you had gone crazy. I was afraid you'd lost your mind."

Harry was bewildered by this statement and said,

"You don't need to worry about me, Hermione. You don't need to worry."

Hermione cried some more and said, "If only that were true. You've got to face the facts, Harry. You've got Voldemort on your tail specifically. If anyone should be worried, it should be you. How can you live with this sense of fear and paranoia all the time?"

"I guess I'm just use to it, that's all."

Hermione then pecked Harry on the cheek before being thrown out by Madam Pomfrey. Ron had left a while ago. He could see that Hermione wanted to be alone with Harry.

Harry got Madam Pomfrey to let him out early that afternoon. She had wanted to keep him another night. Harry was relieved as he walked to the great hall for dinner that evening. The moment he walked into the great hall, that all changed.

"Hey Potty! Good to see you back! Are you gonna put on another show for us or what?"

It had been the distinct drawl of Draco Malfoy that had spoken these words. Harry immediately turned towards the Slytherin table with hatred burning in his eyes.

"I would watch what I say if I were you. At least I don't have a parent that runs around with a mask on his head. How did it feel to see him sent to Azkaban? I saw Dumbledore trap him. He trapped all of them. Trapped them like rats!"

Malfoy stared dumfounded for a moment before shooting his fiery reply,

"At least I _have_ parents, Potter."

Harry was about to pounce on Malfoy and rip him to pieces with his bare hands before Hermione came up behind him and pulled him away. This caused Malfoy and a group of Slytherins to howl with laughter.

"Hey Granger, sticking up for your crazy boyfriend?"

Hermione just ignored him and pulled Harry over to the Gryffindor table with her.

"I don't know how you just ignore them like that, Hermione," said Harry.

"Simple, I just don't let it get to me. I don't listen to them anymore. I stopped years ago."

Harry pondered this for a moment. She had a pretty fair point.

"I'll have to try that from now on," said Harry.

"Good, now have some food; you must be starving."

Ron hadn't really noticed any of the heated comments that had been passed between Malfoy and Harry. He was very interested in his food at the moment. He was also shooting nervous glances at Parvati from time to time. She was busy giggling with some friends. One of them looked over at Ron. This caused him to blush bright red. The girls giggled even harder.

"Ron, I hope you know that she does like you. She has for the longest time." said Hermione matter-of-factly.

This caused Ron to blush even redder (if possible). Harry then decided to interject,

"You might as well talk to her, mate. What could go wrong?"

With this Ron stood up and walked over to Parvati. He said hello to her and then sat down in the empty seat next to her. This caused them both to blush very fierce and her friends to giggle uncontrollably. Hermione just rolled her eyes and looked at Harry as she said,

"If those two ever get two words across to each other it'll be a miracle."

Harry laughed at this and then kissed Hermione swiftly on the lips. She looked a little shocked at this action, but then she just smiled and said,

"Well, look who's not afraid of the public seeing him and his girlfriend together."

"I...I well, yeah," said Harry blushing.

This kiss seemed to confirm for some people that Harry and Hermione were going out. Neville actually gasped and Seamus said,

"Seriously Neville, you need to read the paper more often."

Dinner was marvelous after that. Harry ate quite a bit considering that he hadn't eaten in over two days. Dessert was just appearing when it happened.

There was a great banging on the door to the great hall. The Fat Friar then came flying through the door. He went straight up to the staff teacher and exclaimed loud enough for all of the students to hear,

"Headmaster, there are centaurs that wish to gain entrance to the great hall. They are hoping for a word with you."

A slight frown came across Dumbledore's face. Harry was sure that only a few people were able to see it. Then he said,

"Thank you for telling me."

Then he rose from the staff table and crossed over to the doors. He threw then wide to reveal three centaurs. The one in front Harry immediately recognized as Bane. All of them looked very grim and were there to discuss something important. Most of the students (aside from Harry, Ron, and Hermione) were staring at the centaurs with looks of awe or maybe amusement. Harry thought he heard Malfoy say rather loud,

"Stupid horses don't know their place."

Then a Hufflepuff girl exclaimed, "They're cute!"

These remarks drew snarls from the centaurs. Bane spat on the floor in front of Dumbledore. Dumbledore kept his composure as he said,

"Hello Bane. Would you like to talk in the hall since you cannot come up to my office?"

"No. We will talk here! You shall keep no more secrets from your people. You know why we are here and you know what we want!"

Dumbledore was slightly taken aback before he said, "I had a feeling that you would want to talk about certain...circumstances. I would kindly ask you to talk with me in the hall."

"No human. We have been gracious and conformed with you before, but now we are through. There are more of them back there. They are destroying our home and killing our people."

"Bane, I am truly sorry for these losses. You must be able to see that this is for the better. What if they were in the hands of Voldemort?"

At this there was, as always, a collective intake of breath from the hall. Bane merely stared at Dumbledore with rage coursing over his face. Then he said,

"We have said before now that we are not going to subject ourselves to the follies of humans. This also means that we will not tolerate these abominable monsters to live among us. Your friend Rubeus was thick enough to believe that they can be trained and civilized like pets. Giants are not play things!"

The hall stopped short. No one dared to speak. Almost everyone (except for Harry, Hermione, and Ron) was completely frozen; a look of fear on almost every face.

"Yes, that's right," said Bane, "Your headmaster is hiding giants from you! The centaurs would like to inform the people here at Hogwarts that if these monsters are not removed promptly then we shall be forced to retaliate against the school."

With that the centaurs marched from the hall and out of the castle, presumably heading back to the forest. Dumbledore seemed to almost deflate as he walked back to the staff table. There was a grim look on his face as he began to start talking with the other teachers.

As if waiting to start, the students in the hall began to whisper excitedly about what they had just heard. After dessert everyone quickly cleared away from the hall and headed back to their dormitories. In light of the bad news, there was good. Harry noticed that Ron and Parvati were walking back to the tower together.

At that moment Voldemort was in hiding as he gave Malfoy his orders. He needed that prophecy and he needed it as fast as he could get it. Harry felt a slight twinge in his scar.


	11. The Rebirth of a Dying Team

_A/N: OK everyone, just shoot me now. I know that I haven't updated in a very long time, but I was busy. After recent details released about the actual HBP I can see that mine will not be like the real version in the least. With that said, if you don't like then leave now! If you don't care then keep reading my story and review when you're done with the chapter._

The next day the school was buzzing and everyone seemed to look nervous to Harry. In transfiguration Harry couldn't help but notice the many people who would glance out the window towards the forest, as though they expected some giants to emerge at any second. Harry, Hermione, and Ron found this foolish, of course, because they had known about Grawp since the middle of their fifth year.

One thing that was unusual was the amount of owls that had delivered messages that morning. Most were naturally addressed to students from their relatives and such. Something odd that Harry noticed was Dumbledore receiving large amounts of mail; no one ever saw him get mail. Most of Dumbledore's mail, however, was Howlers that were yelling all through breakfast. Parents were outraged at the prospect of giants near their children. Harry couldn't blame them. From what he'd heard from friends was that giants were humungous, vicious, killing machines. Plus he'd had the pleasure of meeting one personally. At the end of breakfast the staff had looked extremely flustered from the barrage of shouts.

Harry himself was looking forward to that night. Quidditch tryouts were scheduled and he, Harry, was the captain of the Gryffindor team. He was very eager to get in the air. He had just gotten rid of his ban and was itching for his broom.

At lunch Harry overheard Dean and Seamus talking. He was interested in what they were saying.

"My mom says that just one slip up with those giants and I'll be out of here as quick as if I'd apparated," said Seamus.

"Well, my parents haven't got a clue that giants exist. I figure I'll just stay here."

Harry should have known that this is what they'd be talking about. That was all that anyone was talking about. Then Ron sat down next Harry at the table with Hermione behind him.

"So," said Harry as he swallowed a bit of his potatoes, "I saw you and Parvati walking out of the great hall together yesterday night."

Ron blushed at this. "Well," he said, "We were...erm...talking."

"About what?" inquired Hermione. She and Harry were sitting on either side of Ron so that he could not get away or look away. Ron, spotting this disadvantage, decided to speak truthfully, "Well, I...er...Iaskdparvattgooutwime."

"Wait," said Harry, "Can you try that again?"

Ron looked as though this were torture and said through gritted teeth, "I asked Parvati to go out with me." Every word seemed to be causing him great physical pain.

"What'd she say?" asked Hermione innocently.

"None of your business," said Ron rather sharply.

Just then Parvati walked into the hall and spotted Ron. She made a bee-line for him. She arrived a moment later right behind him. Ron didn't seem to notice because he was eating and glancing furtively around as though half hoping to see Parvati and half hoping that he didn't. When the very person he was trying to find and avoid spoke directly behind him he jumped nearly five feet out of his seat.

"Oh," said Parvati looking a little embarrassed, "I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me."

"Ummm," said Ron breathing hard, "Yeah, sure, I'll come with you. See you guys later." The last bit was directed at Harry and Hermione.

"Well," said Harry, "I guess that answers your question." The two of them looked over to see Ron sit down with Parvati with a group of friends. They all immediately started giggling and Ron looked as though he could die rather than stay where he were.

That evening Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were walking together to the Quidditch field. The first were there to play, the last was a spectator. When they arrived at the entrance of the field they saw a group of people waiting apprehensively to tryout. Harry already knew what he was going to say in his head. He had gone over it with Ron and he had agreed that it was the fairest thing to do.

As Harry positioned himself in front of the group some their conversations quickly died down. He was about to begin talking when he noticed something odd. There were some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws mixed with the majority of Gryffindors.

"Hey!" said Harry motioning to the group among which was Cho Chang. Harry tried to avoid looking at her. He and she had ended the last year on a bad foot. "You lot, what are you doing here? This is Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts."

Justin Finch-Fletchy spoke up, "We..er...wanted to know...what happened in...the Department of Mysteries. And...if there'd be any more...DA classes..."

Harry was literally dumfounded by this answer, but was able to say, "Well, I have not decided about the DA. I would have to make it official and legal with Dumbledore. If he says no then the answer is simply no. As for the Department of Mysteries, I believe that that is my own business and I really don't feel like talking about it. So, if you would all leave so that I can conduct tryouts for my team." Harry had definitely added some venom to his words as he spoke. How dare they question him about the Department of Mysteries? "I'll use the galleons if I decide to start DA again. After the first wave of heat the second will signify when I plan the first lesson."

There was a murmur of assent from the crowd and then they cleared out. Harry was sure he heard Hermione mutter "the nerve!". With that Harry addressed the remaining people, people who were meant to be at the field. "Well, sorry for that delay. As you all know I will be your captain this year. I will be playing the position of Seeker. All of the other positions are open. I figured that because I had only myself and Ron here on the team, I decided that we should start from scratch. Now, I want you to divide yourselves into groups. Chasers, Beaters, Keepers, and Seekers. Yes, you can try out for Seeker. It is always good to have backup players. I will start breaking you into teams and test all of you out."

Then Harry let them break into their assigned categories. He noticed that no one was going for Seeker. Harry was glad at this on the inside because he didn't really want to have to worry about competition. Ron walked over with the other person trying for Keeper. Harry noticed that that there were a lot of people going for Beater. There was a fair amount of Chasers. Hermione went up into the stands with something that looked like a one of those mini blackboard things. This was much different because it served as the Muggle equivalent of a video recorder. She was going to "film" the entire tryout so that Harry could refer back to it when trying to pick the players. Then, after Harry had picked his first "team" (he had approximated that there would be about two of them), he walked onto the field with them trailing behind him carrying their brooms. Harry had retrieved his earlier that day.

Harry went to where the balls were kept and brought them onto the field. He took out the Quaffle and then handed the struggling Bludgers to the two that were going for Beater. They looked rather surprised at the force of them. Harry guessed from this that they had never played Quidditch before. His guess was right.

After a long three hours of tryouts Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked back up to the castle. The rest of the students had left already with the promise that Harry would be contacting the people who would be playing within the next week. Ron and Ginny had already been assured their positions of Keeper and Chaser respectively. Harry was surprised at the turnout. Colin Creevey had turned up for Beater, but, and Harry didn't tell him this, Harry thought that the Bludgers might kill the poor kid. Seamus and Dean had turned up for Beater also. Harry was surprised at how good they were. Then Harry deduced the fact that they had probably been flying brooms their whole lives since they were raised with wizards and witches. Harry was pretty sure that they had made the team compared to the others. The other two Chaser positions were what Harry was worried about. Well, actually one, because Katie Bell was still at Hogwarts and she was a great chaser. Harry had almost forgotten about her until tryouts. He had always thought she was two years older than him, but he was wrong.

"At least one person from the old team is still with me," thought Harry. In his seventh year, if he survived to it, Katie would no longer be there and he would be the last member of the original team. This slightly saddened Harry, but he knew that it would've had to happen one day.

The next week went by very quick. Harry had decided that Andrew Kirke, former Beater, was best suited as a chaser rather than a beater as he had been last year. The new team was set and ready for practices. Harry couldn't really complain about the line-up. He had Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Ron Weasley (Harry wondered how long it had been since there hadn't been a Weasley on the team), Ginny Weasley, Andrew Kirke, Katie Bell, and himself. Harry was confident that with a little practice he would have a very worthy team to take to the Cup.

Harry was soon taken out of the world of Quidditch. A lot of things were happening back on the ground (literally). Harry had to decide about the DA. He thought if it would really be worth it now that they had a satisfactory teacher. He also wondered if he would be able to balance it with his other schoolwork at the moment. He decided that he had to do it because all of his "students" seemed to really enjoy learning from him. Harry knew that he couldn't back down from a responsibility that he had brought upon himself.

The next morning Harry went to Dumbledore as he was getting up from the staff table after breakfast. He was going to talk to him about the DA whether or not he was wary of Dumbledore being a killer or not.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Harry?" responded Dumbledore in his normal calm voice.

"Erm...do you remember the club I had started last year?"

"Yes, I do. I am assuming that you wish to discuss this club? Possibly even reinstate it?"

Harry was a little bewildered by the fact that Dumbledore pretty much knew what he would say. "Yes, I was wondering about that. You see, all of the people who were in it want me to keep it going, but I didn't think that I should do it without your permission first. I would understand if you said no."

"Well, Harry, that club did drive me from this school last year," at this Harry looked down at his shoes and Dumbledore smiled, "But I think that it sounds like an excellent idea. We could do with some sort of activity around here besides the Gobstones club. I will, of course have to speak others on this matter before I can confirm it, but I would say that you have a pretty good chance. I am curious just where you would hold the meetings."

"Um, the Room of Requirement, sir, if there is nowhere else," seeing the look of puzzlement on Dumbledore's face he continued, "Oh yeah, you don't know about it. You see, Dobby the elf told me about it. I believe that it's the place where you found that nice collection of chamber pots, professor."

"Ah yes," said Dumbledore with big revelation in his voice, "I remember that place. It was quite handy if you ask me. So I get that it's not always full of toilets, eh?"

"Yeah, it becomes a room suited to whatever your greatest need at that moment is."

"Very interesting. That sounds like the ideal place for your club to meet. Well, Harry, I am glad that you came to talk to me. Now I believe that you should get to class. You're going to be late as it is. Please tell Snape that I am sincerely sorry for keeping you."

"Yes sir. Thank you."

With that Harry left the Great Hall and ran to Potions. The halls were empty on his way to class for it had begun five minutes ago. Harry was trying to stifle the happy feeling inside him because he knew that he would be nowhere near happy in his Potions class.

Even as Harry had given his excuse for being late Harry could see that Snape did not care about the excuse in the least. He seemed enraged that Harry was late and this was probably why Harry received a lot of extra homework at the end of the lesson. When he sat down next to Hermione he gave her a thumbs up which told her that the DA was going again. The rest of the lesson was torture.

At the end of the day Harry was exhausted. He was sure that he had never had a day that hard in his entire life at Hogwarts. That's why when he entered the common room that evening to see a crowd of people all talking excitedly and signaling Harry their way, he almost considered ignoring them and walking right to bed. But he went to them anyway and looked at what was causing the excitement. He read the sign in front of him and noticed then that all of these people were sixth years.

Attention All Sixth Years:

Starting November 20th all sixth years,

(And some seventh years who failed)

Will be starting a class on Apparition.

The test for this will be taken at the age

Of seventeen. If you choose to not attend

These classes then you forfeit your opportunity

To learn to apparate.

Harry had forgotten all about this. He was very excited, just like the others. He could not wait to start learning. He was suddenly full of energy and sitting with the others. They talked about what they would do when they passed their Apparition test until late into the night. Harry decided that he needed to go up because he was genuinely tired from talking with the others. He said good-night to Hermione and Ron, who was sitting with Parvati, and climbed the stairs of the boy's dormitory. Once he had undressed and got in bed he realized that this by far his busiest year at school. He had advanced lessons, Quidditch, the DA, apparition courses, and the fact that Voldemort and his death eaters were at large.

As soon as Harry fell asleep he knew that there was something wrong in his dream: he looked down at his deathly pale hands and found that he was in the body of Tom Riddle once again.

_A/N: There, I hope you liked it. Please review and once again I am sorry that it took me so long to update my story. I promise you all that I won't do that again, but I can't swear on it because I have school starting soon, but I will try my best to update at reasonable intervals. And don't worry, the story gets really in-depth soon enough. _

_Another Disclaimer (just figured I should add one seeing as I haven't since chapter two): I don't own Harry Potter, but can always wish that I do._


	12. The Veil Opens

Harry looked down to see his pale hands and confirmed that they were indeed those of Tom Riddle. He knew that what he saw was not to be trusted. At least Harry didn't want to trust it because he knew what might happen if he did...

Tom/Harry looked up to see a hooded figure standing not far in front of him. Harry saw that the figure had something in his hands that must've been heavy because he appeared to be struggling to carry the weight. The squat man walked forward and and lowered his hood: Wormtail.

"Master, I have brought it to you...just as you asked," he said in a slightly quivering voice.

"Well at least you're good for something, Ratbutt," said Tom in as icy a voice as ever.

"Y-y-yes, Master. Of course. Shall I get you anything?"

"Yes, you can get your lazy bum out of here, you git! Can you not see how busy I am?"

Wormtail nodded vigorously and then stumbled from the room. Tom/Harry then walked to the object that the servant had deposited; Harry thought it looked strangely familiar...

Tom/Harry pushed aside the cloth that was draped unceremoniously over the object to reveal what Harry was nowhere near prepared for. What he saw was a total shock. Harry looked through Voldemort's eyes down at the veil. The same veil that had taken Sirius only a couple months before. The body of two souls walked up in front of the veil and Harry felt Tom's mouth move as he said,

"Voices of the dead, I command you to rise before me...bring me who I have been searching for; bring me Sirius Black."

Harry was watching in horror after those words had penetrated his mind and saw the veil flutter violently. Harry thought that it was very close to flying right off of the dais that held it in place. Soon, through all of the flurry of movement and gusts of wind and extreme cold, everything stopped and was calm. The veil spit out a small shadowy figure. It was dusty, smoky, and shaped just like Harry's godfather.

"Hello, Black," spat Voldemort.

Sirius looked around the spot where he was floating weakly and then traced his eyes up the body of Tom Riddle.

"You!" he said with equal amounts of venom.

"Yes...me. I'm glad to see that you're so happy to see me." This was seen to be untrue by the way Sirius glared at Tom/Harry. Harry watched and desperately wanted to call out to his late godfather for he severely missed him. He wanted to yell that it was all his, Harry's, fault, and that he would do anything to have him back. But he couldn't do tat, and that was the truth. Harry had to sit and watch as Sirius was tortured even after death. Harry thought of how unfair it was to be disturbed when already gone from the living world. "You see, you are just right where I want you, my friend."

"Yeah, whatever."

"No, no, no, you don't understand. I have had this planned all along. See, I had to lure you into the Chamber of Death. That was no easy feat. That slimy git of a Potter puts up one hell of a fight. But, after much perseverance, I succeeded in having you thrown through the veil. Now, you see, being in the veil is quite an advantage-"

"Maybe to you. I'll tell you that being in here with a bunch of crazed souls that were old prisoners is not my cup of tea!"

"Crazed prisoners? Sounds like you would fit right in..." At this the shadowy Sirius appeared to spit onto Tom's robes. But, seeing as it was made of smoke, it didn't really do the job. "Anyway, Black, I don't have time for chatting with worthless beings such as yourself. What I summoned you for is much more urgent. I need you to tell me where the Order is hiding. I know that it's hidden by that blasted Fidelus Charm and that you know the location. So tell me. You might as well, then you'll be able to see your dear friends again."

"I would never," muttered Sirius. He looked furious. Furious at everything: himself, Voldemort, the world, the veil, just everything.

"Right then," said Tom/Harry, "I guess that we'll just have to threaten you until you crack. You see, unless I put you myself back through the veil, you will eventually puff away. Your soul will disappear. You will be gone forever and will never have existed. You'd become nothing and no one but I would know, which means that no one would care."

"Then I guess I'll become nothing. I would rather that then betray my friends!"

"Very well then. Now, I will leave you right here until you decide to talk...or disintegrate into oblivion."

Then Tom/Harry left from the room with his cloak swishing as he walked. Sirius's shadow was left behind in the darkness.

After Tom/Harry reached another room that was considerably further down a corridor away from Sirius's room, Tom entered and sat down. Before anything else he walked over to a mirror and looked directly into his own eyes. Harry could see the hatred in them. He could see how ugly he was, and, then there was a glint of something else in those vicious eyes...something that seemed almost happy.

"Well, Potter, seen enough yet?"

Harry was screaming and was on the floor. He didn't know how he had gotten there or where he was, but knew that Voldemort had just talked to him in a dream. He knew that he had to get to Dumbledore. That was all that Harry could think for another hour, day, eternity...he didn't know how long, but that was all he thought.

Harry awoke again in the hospital wing. His eyes opened slowly as he tried to look around for his glasses. He couldn't find them and decided that he would lie back down and try to remember why he felt so horrible. He heard a voice, no, two voices that seemed miles away. Yet somehow Harry understood these voices.

"Yes, professor, he seems fine. It'd be a miracle if he woke up today, though. That boy is trying to set a record if you ask me."

"Well, Poppy, I should assume that he has a reason to be so shook up. When he awakens, please come to me so I can talk with him."

"Yes, professor, I will. Good Afternoon."

"Yes, same to you."

Then Harry heard a door close and footsteps walking away and footsteps walking towards him at the same time. He instinctively closed his eyes because he didn't feel like facing the talking and the questioning that was bound to come the moment he awoke. What Harry wanted was Ron and Hermione to come. He was sure that they would eventually. Harry decided to feign sleep until then.

It was quite a few hours later, at least Harry thought it was, when he finally heard some more footsteps coming towards the door. He also heard some hushed voices that he couldn't make out. Then he heard Madam Pomfrey walk over to the door and open it.

"Yes, I know, you'll be quiet."

Harry thought that she had actually sounded quite friendly while dealing with two people that visited often. She was always so snappish with visitors. Then Harry heard the footsteps come towards his bed and the hangings pulled open. Light poured inside and he heard his two best friends take seats beside his four-poster.

"He sure looks tired," said the lanky carrot-top.

"Well, he is sleeping. Honestly, Ronald!" said the bushy haired girl that Harry knew so well.

"You don't have to be sarcastic about it!"

"Be quiet, Ron, Harry's sleeping!"

"Oh hush, you two," said Harry, who had risen very quickly as he said this. He then looked at his two very shocked friends. They obviously thought him to be sleeping. "You don't need to argue about my sleep."

Ron and Hermione looked a little guilty, but could tell that Harry was joking. Hermione immediately covered Harry in a hug and as she pulled back asked concernedly,

"What happened, Harry? This has something to do with Voldemort, doesn't it?"

"Yes, yes it does," said Harry as the memory of the night before come back to him. The dream, the veil, Sirius. "It's just...I don't know if I can trust what I saw."

"Well," said Hermione in her business-like tone, "What exactly did you see?"

Harry found that that tone was a little annoying to him. He tried to shun that away as he thought of how to tell Hermione and Ron what he had seen through the eyes of Tom Riddle. By the time he had finished the deed he felt deflated and empty, like he did whenever he finished a long talk explaining something that had happened that was terrible...and only he, Harry, had seen it. Sometimes Harry wondered how he must look to the rest of the wizarding world. He knew that they must look at him like he was some freak who craved attention, just as Rita had said. The truth was the complete opposite. If everyone but his friends and loved ones disappeared tomorrow, he'd say that it wasn't soon enough. Harry felt heavy lately. Ever since the prophecy revelation he felt...different. He had always been different, of course, but now he was like an outcast. Another species as he had thought before. This was really starting to bug Harry. He was sick of it.

Harry was just hoping for it all to end one day. He wanted to wake up to no Voldemort, no chaos. He would be able to walk downstairs and see his parents reading the Daily Prophet. He would never have need known the Dursley's as well as he did. But, that would not, and could not, ever happen. Harry felt strangely alone.

Harry then remembered Ron and Hermione. They had been watching him all along as he lost himself in thought. He asked them kindly that he would like to be left alone for a while. He knew that he would not be alone, of course, because he had seen Dumbledore outside the door to the wing waiting for the last ten minutes. Harry was glad that he had had the courtesy of waiting until Ron and Hermione had left to barge in on him with his usual talk. This was another thing that Harry was frankly sick of. But he had promised to not let these things get him into such a state of depression and nastiness to where he wouldn't give a darn whether or not Voldemort was dead or had killed everyone. Harry knew that he had to stay strong. He had to "act the hero" as some people said, but Harry knew that that was right. He knew that in the end, he really had no choice.

Dumbledore walked in after giving a curt nod to both of Harry's best friends and then conjured up one of those nice fluffy armchairs he seemed to have in mass supply. For a while, he said nothing and only looked at Harry vaguely. Then, after much of this looking, he looked Harry in the eye and said,

"You know why I'm here, Harry."

"Yes, I do, Professor, so I'll just get down to it. I think that Voldemort might be keeping...Sirius's shadow or something hostage until he cracks and gives away the location of the Order headquarters. I'm not sure if I should believe him or not. What scared me was at the end when Voldemort was through with Sirius's...err...thing, he looked in a mirror and talked to me. Professor, he knew that I was in his head last night. I think that he planned this."

Dumbledore looked down at Harry and he could tell that the old man was deep in thought at the moment. Harry wondered what went through his aging mind. After a few moments had passed Dumbledore said, "Harry, this...dream is definitely something to take into account. I will have to look into this promptly. I am glad that you told me. I am assuming that there is nothing left to tell."

Harry nodded. "Good," said Dumbledore, "I will talk to you within the next few days with any light on the situation."

"Thank you, Professor," said Harry, "And, um, will Sirius really disappear forever if Voldemort just lets him rot outside of the veil for too long?"

"I am very sorry that I just don't know that answer. I must go, Harry. I have a very urgent meeting to attend. Good day."

With that the old man disappeared through the doorway and swept down the hallway. Harry watched as he left and then decided to try to shove those things from his mind. He settled upon thinking about lighter subjects such as when the DA would meet and when to have the next Quidditch practice. After looking through everything, Harry found that he had plenty to occupy his mind away from Tom Riddle and his insidious plans for a while.

After haggling with Madam Pomfrey for an early release in exchange for him taking a dreamless sleep draught for the next week or so, Harry was sitting in the Great Hall getting a lot of very strange looks from his peers. He knew that they wanted to know what he knew, but also knew that they would never want to know anyway. With that in mind, Harry didn't even bother with the curious looks from Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, while he ignored the petty insults flying from somewhere in the Slytherin group. Harry didn't need to look around to see who that drawling voice that was talking about Harry having fits of spasms to know that it was no one but Draco Malfoy. Harry could really care less about anything that stupid ferret had to say.

Later that night Harry and company were relaxing peacefully in the common room. Well, it would be peaceful if Harry weren't struggling to catch up with his homework. Then there was a short, but very violent chess match between Ron and Colin Creevy. Colin thought that he would be able to take on Ron, reigning champ of Gryffindor as far as chess was concerned, but he had never been more wrong. Harry and Hermione had been quietly talking about when the best time for the first DA meeting would be for somehow she had gotten hold of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch schedules so that they could plan accordingly.

The two of them eventually decided on a weekend towards the end of October right around Halloween. Harry then pointed his wand at his fake galleon that had been hiding in his trunk all summer and then felt it get warm. All the students around the school in the DA felt the warmness, whether it be in their pocket or shoe, or wherever the felt it would be safe to keep. Little did they all know that Voldemort had just pressed his finger against a well known scar that alerted some other people of an entirely different meeting.


	13. Midnight Strolls

Later that night while Harry was already well asleep there was movement in other parts of the castle. All students were oblivious to such happenings because they were, as stated, asleep.

In the moonlit corridors there were footsteps echoing faintly on the high stone walls. Snape was going for a midnight stroll of his own accord and he had no intentions of telling anyone, or anything for that matter, what exactly his intentions were. He knew that it was probably a useless cause. That he would never accomplish such a task. He knew that if he were caught then the picture wouldn't look too good. Dumbledore would have reason to doubt his trust...

Snape tried shunning these particularly disconcerting thoughts away from his mind for the time being. Snape knew that what he was doing was very important, so he attempted ignoring the burning sensation on his forearm for the time being, but knew that in the end it would become too intense to ignore and he would have to go about his other duties.

By now Snape was out on the grounds and working his way towards the Forbidden Forest. He told himself once again how hopeless his efforts were, but convinced himself to do it anyway. He knew that if he didn't then Hogwarts would be in imminent danger.

He had found his way fairly deep into the forest, he thought that he was getting lost and had to keep pointing himself in the right direction through use of his wand. After twenty more minutes of walking he arrived at his general destination. His cloak was heavily scratched and had thorns all over it. He thought to himself that it was better his cloak then his skin before walking forward into a clearing he had seen only a couple times before. He knew that he was as deep as he would ever dare go into the forest.

Snape walked out into the center of the clearing and then brushed himself off with an air of urgency before clearing his throat and letting loose a wild call,

"Carcharhimidae!!!!!"

Then he sat in the middle of the clearing. He hoped that a response would came fairly quickly to his call because he was starting to weaken to the pain on his arm...he knew that Voldemort was getting impatient and that he would either have to come up with a good excuse for his lateness, or he was to be punished. He was not looking forward to the prospect of a punishment from the merciless Lord Voldemort, but knew that he had to stay within the inner circle.

Snape sat for at least a quarter of an hour. He got up to leave seeing that his call was not to be answered any time soon. He thought that maybe he'd have better luck the next night, when Voldemort wasn't interfering. Snape cleared his mind efficiently so that the Dark Lord would not sense his feelings of dread and betrayal before casting one last nervous look around and disappearing to meet Tom Riddle.

It was a cloudy morning the next day when Harry and Hermione walked into their NEWT potions class. They immediately noticed something wrong. This was the fact that their teacher, Snape, who had never been absent from class for the last six years, was, indeed, absent. This was a puzzlement. Harry knew that there had to be something seriously wrong to be keeping Snape away. Not that Harry liked Snape because that matter was quite the opposite, but Harry was just taking in all the signs and clues. He knew for a fact that Snape's absence was a clue to the fact that something unusual was up.

Instead of the normal torture that was potions in Harry's mind, he experienced that morning everything that a potion's class should be. The substitute, Professor Malloy, was a very neat man with a hard voice that could become raspy if he talked quietly. He was fairly easy going, despite his strict appearance, and was rather fun to have as a teacher. Harry found himself wishing that he had Malloy as his teacher all the time.

"Hello, class. My name is Professor Malloy." He gestured his hand to make his name appear on the blackboard in large, neat script. Then he continued, "I shall be teaching for the next couple weeks. Your normal teacher, Professor Snape, will be out for a while due to circumstances that I am not at liberty to discuss. Now, let us begin by opening our books to page 504 where we can read up on the poly-juice potion. You shall all be making this potion by the end of this week with use of pre-stewed lacewings and other prepared ingredients so that the potion does not take a month to make. Luckily the full moon appears next Wednesday night, so we shall be meeting here that night to observe and add to our potions." He now paused and took a breath. Then he conjured the directions for the day onto the board. "Now, you will begin by reading about the potion and we shall begin the brewing next meeting."

After this speech there was much quiet chatter that Malloy did not seem to mind, or he was slightly deaf...the class was not sure. By the end of the class there were many questions from anxious students. Hannah Abbott asked concernedly,

"Umm, professor, who shall we be changing into?"

"Why, your partner, of course."

As Harry and Hermione were headed off towards lunch, and giggling in the process at the prospect of making the poly-juice potion again (once illegally and now in class), Harry said,

"So, you planning on becoming a cat? Or does becoming me for an hour suit you?"

Hermione giggled very much at this, trying to contain herself from bursting out laughing in the crowded corridor before replying, "Not as long as you give me one of your hairs...and don't go petting Crookshanks beforehand!"

"I won't, I won't."

That evening was rather busy. On top of some homework to do so that they were not buried with it by the weekend, telling Ron about Snape (for he had not had potions that day), and speculating about why Snape was gone, there was the prospect of the first DA meeting that Harry and Hermione had planned for that night upon them.

Harry was getting the finishing touches ready, going over his planned schedule, and getting any certificates ready for new members. Harry had appointed Ron and Hermione as his assistants because ever since posting a note in all House Common rooms, there had been a fresh buzz around the school about who would be joining the DA. All of the old members (except those that had left Hogwarts) were reentering into the club. Professor Stalney said that she would happily look in on the first meeting to make it seem more official.

At a quarter to eight Harry was found in the Room of Requirement along with Ron, Hermione, and Professor Stalney. Harry was going around making sure everything was ready, while Hermione, knowing that in the Room of Requirement everything was always ready, sat and read one of the many books. Ron was practicing a spell in which you could turn a slug into chocolate for a limited time. After two minutes the spell, of course, reversed, therefore turning the slug back into, well, a slug. Ron had a glint in his eyes that said all to well that he had something evil planned for the next slug he came across, but the real evil would be for whoever took him up on an offer for some chocolate...

"Wow, this is quite a setup you have, Potter," said Professor Stalney as she was wandering around looking through the many books and the assortment of dark detectors. "I must say that there is quite an extensive bit of magic to be learned here. Can I ask what you'll be covering?"

"Yes, professor, we shall start the returning members with some new shielding charms I've read about. Hermione and Ron will also help me with the new members so that they can learn what the others did last year."

"Quite daring, Potter, starting this thing up under that toad's nose last year. I'm glad Dumbledore is letting you keep it. Even after it got him on the run. He's a good man, he is."

Harry thought that he had heard people say this about Dumbledore quite often. He just naturally assumed it to be true. He never expected to ever find himself questioning whether or not that man had plans to murder him. Harry knew deep down that it couldn't possibly Dumbledore who wanted to kill him, because Harry just knew. It was like how when humans are born they know to start breathing right away. But for some reason Harry had a little nag at the back of his mind...

Harry drew his mind off of these thoughts as the first few people began arriving for the meeting. Harry saw the Creevy brothers, Katie Bell, all the Gryffindors in his year, quite few Ravenclaws including Cho Chang. Harry found that there was no jump anymore in his stomach. Then there was quite a fair few number of Hufflepuffs, including Ernie Macmillan among some others. About two minutes after the rest of the members marched in the door opened very slowly to let in an ever dazed-looking Luna Lovegood. Harry could've sworn that shed wandered in on accident, but greeted her all the same. He figured as long as she didn't start babbling about gnargles, then everything would be alright.

When Harry had everyone at his attention and they were all seated on the cushions that the room supplied, Harry began the meeting,

"Well, err, hello again everyone, and if you're new then I'll say hello for the first time and say that I hope that you enjoy this class. From what the previous members have told me about this club, I think that I am doing something pretty good here. What's going to happen is this. Instead of this year there just being one teacher, me, there shall be three, maybe four," said Harry casting a glance at Stalney, who nodded.

"We shall be dividing the group into two smaller groups: those that were here last year, and those that are new. Everyone will be taught by each instructor equally; meaning that you all will be taught by me, Ron, Hermione, and Professor Stalney here if she is available. I have changed the schedule so that the DA will meet every Monday. All I ask of the other Quidditch captains is to not plan a practice on Mondays. Those have been specially preserved for DA. If there is a very good reason for a change in the day of the meeting then you will all know from your coins getting much colder, rather than hotter.

"With all that said, I think that we should start with today's lesson. Now, I would like to ask all of you whom I taught last year to form in a group on the right side of the room, and all of the new people to go to the left."

This task was quickly accomplished as the students were eager to begin learning. Sometimes Harry thought it ironic that people actually wanted to learn in his class. This made him feel slightly accomplished. Then, before feeling too accomplished about himself, Harry began to demonstrate the shielding charm that he had been working on. He was surprised at how easy DADA always came to him and was even more surprised when Professor Stalney informed him that she could not even perform a shield that strong. Indeed, everyone else's shield except for a few people were all a bit dimmer and weaker when tested by a partner's destructive spell. It had taken an average of three _impediamenta_ s to break through everyone else's shield. Harry's had taken on seven before fading away. Harry said that this was only because he had been performing the spell for a while longer then the rest of them. This was a lie because in truth he had only learned the spell that afternoon.

That night all were very tired, but happy when returning to their dorms. Harry watched with a smile as the students left and as they passed giving him a wink or wishing his a good evening. Harry knew that starting the DA had been a great idea. As the last student had left and it was back to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Stalney, they were just tidying up a little before getting ready to turn in. Before leaving Stalney complimented Harry graciously on his club and told him that she would drop by every once in a while.

By the time the trio was back in the common room and sitting by the fire, they were all pretty tired and getting ready to go to sleep. Ron and Harry decided to stay up a while talking about Quidditch and the practice that they would be having that Wednesday. Hermione informed them that she was exceptionally tired before saying that they'd all done a great job and then gave Harry a kiss before going to bed.

Harry and Ron needed to talk because they had their first match of the season coming up in a few weeks. They were facing Ravenclaw and knew very well that they were brutal. The two went over different tactics and before they knew it were alone in the common room and it was a little past midnight. They were extremely tired by this time and promised themselves to keep track of the time next time they had a serious Quidditch discussion that didn't include torturing Malfoy with a cursed broomstick.

By the time Harry was falling asleep there were images of shields and brooms and bludgers racing through his head. He went off to having a dream where if he could only catch the snitch, then everything would be alright. He couldn't see or think of anything past the capture, but knew that it was all that mattered. He needed to get it.


	14. The Last Marauder

_A/N: Sorry about such a large update gap...Go ahead...you can all yell at me. I promise to never do that again...I hope...Anyways; this is just another disclaimer making sure we all remember that I haven't any right to any of this stuff. Hope I haven't lost all of my readers...but for those of you that hung in there, read on._

Sirius slowly opened his eyes. He had such a headache...he couldn't remember where he was...wasn't he dead? After his eyes cleared he saw what was happening around him and what had been the cause of his awakening. It was just the traitor Wormtail coming to him. How he wished to squeeze that man to death; to watch his eyes stare lifelessly on the floor. Then Sirius noticed that Wormtail was coming toward him...this bothered Sirius...what more could they want?

When close to the shadowy figure, Wormtail said in a whisper, "Sirius, I'm here to help you. I want to apologize for what I've done. I know that it's pretty much too late to change anything...but I can stop something from happening. Please listen to me, Sirius."

"And why the hell should I listen to you?" spat Sirius. "You're just playing some game with me! Getting me to trust you and tell you where the Order is!"

"No Sirius...I would never..."

"Then why this sudden change of heart? Why do suddenly cower from Voldemort? Is he getting weaker? Are you just out to protect your sorry head?"

"Well, in a way, yes, but I also would like to help you...I owe you..."

"You owe everyone in Great Britain with your cowardice! Ok, I guess you're my only hope of helping the others...what did you have in mind?"

After a moment, Wormtail spoke, "Well, I cannot revive you, for that is impossible even for most skilled wizards. But I can make Voldemort's headway slower than it would be. I will carefully guide him from his goals and the Order. For you, I can assure that you will not be left to obliterate into nothingness. You are not deserving of such a fate. I feel if I do this then I will at least redeem myself to a rank of deserving a status such as yours in the afterlife. I must sound like a complete idiot to you. But if you will not believe me then I will understand...all I want you to know is that I am trying my hardest to help win this war."

Sirius looked directly at Peter when he spoke these words. He knew how good the man could lie; he had seen him do it on so many occasions. But since he knew how he lied, he was able to tell when the truth was being told. He was pretty sure that he was getting the straight truth just then. He knew that the man was his only hope of connecting some of his efforts to the outside. So, what could Sirius do? He believed Peter.

"Well, Wormtail, I can only say that I hope you're not lying top me or you will personally suffer in the afterlife. But as of now I think that I believe you...I think that I can trust you."

"Good. I assure you that I will be trying out there to accomplish something. I must go now...I will be back soon."

"Thank you Peter, old friend. And good luck to you."

With that Wormtail was gone.

Harry slowly opened his eyes much like his shadowy Godfather had just done moments before. If he had known that the reason for his awakening was because of what was about to take place, he would've seriously considered going back to sleep.

He realized that it was still well into the night time and that morning was still a ways away. So Harry wondered what had woken him...there was no noise that he could hear physically, but there was a strange feeling passing through his body. It felt like death. Harry was a little wary of this feeling. He attempted sleep again to no avail, so decided to go to the common room and read himself to sleep. What did he care if some first or second year came nervously poking him in the morning asking why he was sleeping on the couch? He was a rough and tough sixth year.

After reading for an hour, Harry knew that something was seriously going on. He could not ward off the feeling that he needed to do some snooping...So, of course, he did. Harry was out in the corridor with his cloak over him in roughly two minutes. He figured that he was getting a little bit big for the cloak considering that he had to crouch a good four inches so that it covered his feet. He found all of the corridors silent. He almost wanted to find something unusual. It had been a few months from the first DA meeting and nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. This worried Harry. He knew that when nothing was happening then there was a person scheming about the something that was going to happen. Harry needed to find out what was going on. All rumors about Dumbledore, the Half-Blood Prince, and a certain killer had died down, but Harry was sure that something was still going on.

Harry had not been paying to where his feet were leading him. He looked up to see that he was at the end of the corridor that lead to the staircase to Dumbledore's office. With no where else to go, Harry started toward the office in hopes that Dumbledore was up and maybe he could convey some of his worries to the old wizard. But when Harry arrived at the door leading to the staircase he was very puzzled. This was because the door was very much ajar and the staircase was very much revolving and waiting to be climbed. So Harry did as the stairs silently asked and went up. At the top of the stairs was, as Harry had half-guessed, an open door to Dumbledore's office with no Dumbledore within.

Of course Harry went in, what else could he do? He was such and innocent, curious boy who only wanted to know what was happening. But in the past years the innocence had quickly faded and the curiosity was merely there for concern of his own safety. Inside the office Harry found a cluttered desk with papers askew; many bearing the Ministry of Magic emblem. Harry knew that he best not look at the papers. But, judging from the fact that they weren't from Kwikspell, he was pretty sure they weren't very interesting. But something did catch his naughty eyes...something that had caught his eyes time and time again.

Harry walked slowly to the open cabinet from which the faint glow was emanating. He carefully lifted the pensieve from its place and brought it to Dumbledore's desk. After pushing aside the clutter of papers Harry laid down the massive bowl and then sat in a chair to admire it. He thought for a while about doing what he so wanted to do, but remembered how earlier incidents like this one had ended. Eventually the lure of what he might find within was too great for his lingering curiosity to handle. He couldn't contain himself any longer and let himself plunge into the silvery bowl of thoughts.

Usually when Harry had been traveling through the pensieve he was placed randomly into a memory. But he reckoned that he had the rudimentary workings of the device by now and decided to try something new. During his stomach turning journey through the flying memories he thought of one thing: The Half Blood Prince.

Harry crashed into a solid ground. Lucky for him it didn't hurt in the least for he was just a visitor in someone else's memory. He was as faint and helpless as his godfather's image in Voldemort's lair. He looked around himself to try to get a sense of his surroundings. Unfortunately there was no indication of where he was and he bore no memories of the place. All of a sudden there was a gargantuan crash that shook the fuzzy image of the world that Harry was seeing. He quickly turned around to see the cause of such a commotion and froze. There was a sign lying at his feet with only two words upon it. They were "Godric's Hollow".

Before Harry's mind could process this bizarre event he was enchanted by what was taking place before him. Three men were locked in a wizard's duel that was by o means fair or gentleman-like. One of the three was rather younger than the first two and couldn't have been more than twenty. He had very pale skin and curious eyes that caught Harry's attention. He had definitely seen those eyes before...except they were a different color. One of the older men was in a grayish cloak that had a slightly worn look about it. The man had extremely dark hair and a look upon his face as though he was concentrating very hard. The third and final man had striking auburn hair and a tremendous beard. In his eyes was a might that was rarely seen within a single person. This, of course, was Albus Dumbledore.

Then the action seemed to start up again. Harry had almost been frozen in time as he had been examining the men. Now spells and curses were flying at Dumbledore from both sides and he shooting back just as many as the other two were able to put out. The young man was in a frenzy to keep up and was visibly tiring before Harry's eyes. It was then that he recognized the young man for who he was; he was none other than Tom Riddle himself.

All of this was just starting to penetrate Harry's brain and he was having trouble working it all out. Why are Dumbledore, Tom Riddle, and some other guy whom I can only assume to be Grindewald, fighting in my parent's town in the past? Harry could just as easily answer this as he could milk a cockroach. Then something most interesting happened.

Tom was lying on the floor with a defeated look about his figure. Dumbledore had turned to him after putting out Grindewald for a moment and was about to finish off the boy and stop a world of terror in fifty years, but that was when Grindewald interfered and cast a spell on Riddle that made him disappear instantaneously. Harry heard the wizard mutter to the disappearing figure of Tom,

"You are my future."

Then Dumbledore turned on the gray one and stuck him with a most powerful curse. The wizard was overwhelmed by the power and appeared to die...except, Harry couldn't tell because the memory was getting very fuzzy and weird. There was sudden laughter emanating from somewhere far off and the events that had just taken place seemed to be rewinding to when Riddle was disappearing. Then everything began to slow down and the same things happened again...except that they didn't. Just as Riddle disappeared Grindewald rose to his feet and cast a spell upon himself. A greenish smoke came from his body and floated up above Dumbledore, who did not appear to notice the smoke above him; he was still getting ready to cast a spell upon Grindewald's body. Then the smoke sprang down into the back of Dumbledore's head as he was destroying the now empty body of Grindewald. The body crumpled and Dumbledore looked none the different.

But Harry had a pretty good idea of what was happening. He had just seen the real events of Grindewald's apparent defeat that took place in 1945. From what Harry could see and comprehend, Grindewald was not defeated in the least. In fact, Harry thought with a shudder, he could very well still be taking refuge in the back of Dumbledore's head. It was then that the hand went down upon Harry's shoulder.

"Time to go, Harry."

Harry looked up to see the present version of Dumbledore looking down upon him. From the look on the man's face he was a disconcerted, but not with Harry. He looked preoccupied, nervous. But all at the same time he was kindly and gentle, as Harry knew him best.

"S-sorry, professor," mumbled Harry to his feet, hoping that Dumbledore had not seen which memory it was that Harry had just witnessed.

Then the two of them where whisked back into Dumbledore's office as quick as they'd gone. Dumbledore motioned for Harry to sit down and relax. Harry knew that he was about to be treated to a nice, long talk.

"So, what's a boy like you doing out so late? In my office, no less," asked Dumbledore in a tone that held not the least bit of disdain.

"Well, you see professor; I kinda had this funny feeling so I was taking a walk through the castle to ease my mind. But then I the doors open to your office and decided I'd come talk to you. But when I got here you were gone and I saw the pensieve and got a little nosy..."

"Nosy, yes. I see. Apparently you have just witnessed another one of my own memories. This time's my defeat of Grindewald. I dare say that you found it a bit puzzling. You see, as do I, Harry. If Grindewald is the Half Blood Prince, and he is dead for that matter, how is he to aid you in this so-called fight? It has been on my mind for weeks."

This was not what Harry found puzzling at all. He was wondering why Dumbledore made no reference to the very strange ending of the memory...How Grindewald had gotten into his head. But then Harry thought, maybe he can't see that part because Grindewald doesn't want him to. This was an utterly chilling thought. So now Harry stared the wizard in the eyes and there he saw a new quality; a bitterness. Was this Grindewlad? Harry did not know, but he wanted to get away from Dumbledore soon.

"Yes sir, very puzzling. I think I should return to class. That is, if I am excused."

"Why yes, Harry, of course," said Dumbledore in a distracted tone. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing. Thanks for your time...and sorry again."

"No, Harry, don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. Good night!"

"Good night, professor."

With that Harry practically ran to the common room in order to get as far away as possible from the spirit of Grindewald.


	15. A Night of Commonly Uncommon Occurrences

_A/N: Hey there all you cool cats and dogs…or…yeah…Anyways, here's the next chapter. Sorry that the last one was a little (ok very) confusing but I hope it'll come ok in the end. If you have no idea what happened, please feel free to flame me…but not so much that I'm burnt to a crisp or I can't finish my story. Darn…right when I'm getting to the good part too…hehehe._

Bane walks swiftly through the forest paths that his hooves have tread many a time in the past. This evening his step held an air of urgency in it as he sped towards the clearing for the meeting that had been arranged.

"Stupid oaf…doesn't understand what he's gotten into…if only he'd look at the damn stars…"

As Bane muttered to himself he approached the clearing where some of the others had already assembled. He found that it looked rather stately to have the high council of centaurs all arranged in a circle in the middle of the clearing; they upheld a sense of importance that was usually pretty lax whenever centaurs tried to consolidate ideas. But of course this was a night like no other. Something would happen tonight that had never before occurred in the history of the centaurs.

"Great council, I have summoned you! Tonight, we shall ride with purpose! For years those humans up at the castle have degraded us, looked down on us, and thought less of us than them in general. We have been tormented by them and it is time for a revolution! What say you?"

"War!" cried all of the centaurs lined up in the clearing.

"Yes!" exclaimed Bane. "And war we shall have! Revenge shall be ours and it shall be sweet! Too long have we been denied our rights! Too long have we waited to strike! But now, with the element of surprise on our side we will win this unsung war without resistance!"

"War!"

"Yes…good…exactly…war!" Well, they might not be the smartest bunch to ever be in the High Council, but at least they know what they want…and what's good for them. "Yes, my friends, tonight we shall go to war!"

"War!"

"War!" agreed Bane. Tonight was a good night. Things were finally falling into place. Dumbledore would finally taste the full wrath of the centaur population.

Harry woke with a start and immediately put his hand to his searing scar. Man, this was pretty bad. He couldn't remember what he'd been dreaming about. He sat up in bed and searched for his glasses. Then he waited for any memories to come back to him while they were still there. Nothing came. Another few minutes and still nothing. Then it hit him. Grindelwald. Dumbledore. It all came back. Wow, I'm in trouble, thought Harry. But before he could elaborate upon this thought another bang quite like the one that had shaken him awake resonated through the walls of the castle.

"Ron! Did you feel that? Ron?" Harry looked around at Ron's four-poster and he was nowhere to be found. The only sign of him was a slightly crumpled sheet. This slightly alarmed Harry, but he figured that Ron must already have gotten up so Harry followed suit. In the Common Room is where Harry found most of the other Gryffindors all crowded together. Wow, thought Harry, there sure are a lot of Gryffindors…

That's when another boom rocked the castle. All of the students were shook off balance. Some little first years actually fell to the ground. They looked very shocked. Was this something that happened every year at Hogwarts, they thought. The shocked look on the face of a fifth year assured them that this was not normal.

"Attack!" Commanded Bane as the centaurs assaulted the castle for the fourth time. Good, he thought to himself, this is going just as planned. No sign of any resistance. Bane was immensely satisfied with his efforts. Tonight, he thought, he could end forever the struggle for centaur rights…

"Professor! The school is under siege!" cried Professor McGonagall as she ran into to Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore sat at his desk and stared pensively at McGonagall before saying, "Yes, Minerva, I am fully aware of the attacks, but this school is far beyond capable of accepting whatever blows the centaurs deliver."

"So…you're not going to do anything about it? Nothing at all?" asked McGonagall rather nervously.

"Nothing at all," replied Dumbledore. Then a slight smile played across his face as he watched Minerva stand before him dumbfounded. The smile became a little more distinctive as certain thoughts drifted in from the back of his head.

Snape comes blasting out of the forest with a very disgruntled look about him. He heads off on the grounds towards Hagrid's hut. On the way he was muttering things to himself along the likes of, "I knew this would happen!", and "Why didn't they just listen?", and "Oi vey!"

As he reached the hut he stared at it in distaste before knocking on the door in as a desperate last resort. He heard some rummaging around inside before some footsteps coming toward the door before the door was actually opened. When it was Snape was face to face (more like face to stomach) with Hagrid and his trusty crossbow at his shoulder.

"Eh?"

"Well, Rubeus, I am most certain that you are aware of the centaurs leading an attack on the castle right now, are you not?"

"Eh."

"Precisely why I didn't want to come here. Can we spare the cheap talk and just cut to the bottom line? I need your help." He said the last part through exceptionally gritted teeth.

"Eh?"

"With the centaurs, you oaf!"

"Oh, I see…yes, yes. Of course…er…how may I help you?"

"Just try to distract them, ok?"

"Distract who?"

"The centaurs."

"Oh yes! In a flash!"

"Finally!"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing….absolutely nothing," said Snape with a tone of slight disbelief at the conversation he was currently carrying on with a giant of a man who was also a giant of a drunk.

"Oh, well if it's nothing then…" and he started heading back inside to where his bed was.

"No, no! Definitely something! The centaurs! Remember?" he asked painfully.

"Eh?"

"Attacking the school…?" Snape asked remindingly.

"Eh."

"Aren't you going to help me?"

"Eh?"

"Oh this is hopeless!"

With that Snape shut the door on Hagrid himself and walked away from the hut. He wasn't entirely sure where to go now seeing as he couldn't simply walk up to the main doors with the centaurs and everything. As he was walking away he heard the voice of the confused Hagrid ringing through the air as he continued his cyclic conversation with the door seeing as he didn't notice the absence of Snape just yet.

"Oh, I see…yes, yes. Of course…er…how may I help you?"

Snape couldn't help but sigh at this as he continued walking in an indirect path towards the castle. He was going as directly to the castle as possible without attracting attention from the war-mongering centaurs. He had half a mind to try to obliterate half the lot of the pony boys with a blast from his little boomstick had he not known the laws in place by the Ministry protecting their sorry little butts.

Of course, he wasn't about to go heading into the forest again after his little diddy with Grawp and his new friends. Apparently a giant dancing is quite the experience…not one to be repeated, but an experience all the same. It was actually quite a dazzling experience to the human eye and the amount of trees destroyed during the display would have given Paul Bunyan a good run for his money even if he were given a head start riding that blue ox of his. Of course, no one really cared about the trees because they have nothing to do with anything. Unless, of course, they were all destroyed during this sarcastically delicate little dance of the Giants and, therefore, a shortage of oxygen swiftly killed all of the main characters in our story leaving us with a rather dull plot that consists of a wide, barren, dead, treeless landscape. But that looks like a very slim chance. So now the story will logically continue with whatever was happening:

Back in the common room where common stuff happened was found the hero Harry. He was bored to tell the truth. Mainly because the booming and banging had been incessant for three hours and it was starting to piss him off. So he decided he'd do the most hero-like thing about it by going out to investigate. Everyone else in the predictably common common room agreed that this is what Harry should do. So he did it.

Outside the common room were things that weren't found inside of it, things such as hallways and teachers and ceilings. Of course the common room had ceilings of its own, but those were very common ceilings. These were hallway ceilings. They were a little lower and had many panels on them that all looked the same, but were different in some manner. So while Harry walked through the halls to find the source of the banging he encountered something else that was trying to find the banging. It was a teacher. A very frightened looking teacher. She was called McGonagall, but Harry most likely knew this already and the reader probably did, too.

"Oh, my Potter, you startled me. What are you doing out of your dormitory?"

"I was bored and the most hero like thing to do seemed to stop the incessant banging so that is what I'm doing."

"Oh, I see," said McGonagall who saw nothing because she was using her ears and not her eyes, "Then you best be on your way!"

Then she left and was found later in a closet crying about numerous things like gingerbread men and what the hell they were supposed to do next Thursday, and how rosebushes logically have many thorns in them because all of the thorny roses are all in one place. Then she was fine and went back to teaching. She blew off the whole closet ordeal as simply being a mid-life crisis or some random excuse like that.

Then Harry found the banging's source. This means he obviously found the angry centaurs. Realizing what was going on Harry became angry because he did not like what he realized was going on. And it angered him. So he was angry. And he figured he might as well do something about it so he went and blew the centaurs up with a very big Patronus the size a three story apartment building and the centaurs weren't affected by it except for the fact that it scared the crap out of them so they ran. Harry felt very accomplished and Hagrid had a jolly time cleaning up all of the centaur crap the next day.

Then the next month or so of school went by and everyone was happy. They ate stuff and drank things and were so happy they forgot about the centaurs slowly regrouping in the forest. McGonagall forgot, too. Hagrid didn't forget because he still smelled like crap. Dumbledore was very happy up in his office smiling at his hands and waiting to see if they were going to smile back. They never did and never would. He didn't know that, so he waited. And waited. And eventually the centaurs were all ready to start banging the castle walls again. But we find out about this event next chapter. Next chapter will be possibly the last chapter. And if that's the case, then it will be very long.

_A/N: Hey everyone, if anyone actually reads this story anymore, I'm very sorry for the update gap that was about half a year I think. You probably don't care/remember the story. Well, anyway, I had some inspiration. This chapter falls a little into the funny/strange side, so sorry if you don't like it. I find it hilarious. Flames are welcome and almost expected! Tata!_


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